AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP WITHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: AN EMPIRICAL

EVALUATION

by

Scott Morris

________________________________

Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Business Administration

________________________________

Liberty University, School of Business

August 2020

ii

Abstract

This research study established the current issue of low authentic leadership in business as a

known issue that has contributed to lower confidence in leadership throughout various

organizations. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between authentic leadership and

confidence in leadership in a medium to large size department of a local government located in

the Commonwealth of Virginia. To achieve this aim, the researcher adopted a descriptive and

diagnostic analytical approach. The sample of the study consisted of 207 participants, consisting

of positions consistent with regular positions within local government. The researcher used two

survey instruments to achieve the aim of the study. The first instrument was the Authentic

Leadership Questionnaire, which consisted of 16 questions, and the second instrument was the

Leadership Efficacy Questionnaire, which consisted of 22 items. The literature review,

theoretical framework, and research methods established a foundation for answering the research

questions "To what extent, if any, is there a relationship between authentic leadership and

confidence in overall organizational leadership within local government?” and “To what extent,

if any, is there a difference in the relationship between authentic leadership assessment scores

and lower confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within

local government?" Further analysis of the findings of the research could be expanded to better

understand authentic leadership theory and the impact on the public sector, particularly local

government.

Key words: authentic leadership, local government, confidence, trust

iii

Dedication

I dedicate my dissertation work to my wife, Jennifer, and two daughters, Madeline and

Eleanor. Their undying support and encouragement bolstered my spirits in times of doubt and

strengthened my resolve, without them I would not have been able to complete this long journey.

I also dedicate this dissertation to mother, Sylvia, and my father, Dilmer, who instilled in

me the value of hard work. These values have long provided me the foundations for all of my

success in life, of which I am forever grateful.

iv

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge and thank my committee members who

provided knowledge, support, and guidance throughout the dissertation process. Dr. Johnson, my

committee chair, was always available to advise, answer questions, and provide valuable insight.

Dr. Dewhurst, committee member, provide sage suggestions through many revisions that

improved my abilities.

I would like to also acknowledge my friend and mentor, George Hayes who provided

encouragement throughout my many academic pursuits, most recently my doctorate. George has

been a sounding board for many reflections about work and life, these discussions have

broadened my understanding and strengthened me as a leader.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the employees of the Department of Utilities within

Chesterfield County. These individuals are too numerous to list separately; however, they each

deserve recognition for not only providing data for this research, but also for the exceptional

work that they contribute to the community. Their daily efforts to maintain the financial and

structural integrity of the utility system of Chesterfield County is unmatched. I am truly blessed

to have worked with each and every one of these individuals.

v

AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP WITHIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: AN EMPIRICAL

EVALUATION

by

Scott Morris

Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Business Administration

Liberty University

August 2020

___________________________________________________ Date:____________

Dr. Kimberly Johnson, Dissertation Chair

___________________________________________________ Date:____________

Dr. Robert I. Dewhurst, Dissertation Committee Member

___________________________________________________ Date:____________

Dr. Edward Moore, DBA Program Director

i

Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii

Section 1: Foundation of the Study ..................................................................................................1

Background of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 1

Problem Statement .................................................................................................................... 2

Purpose Statement ..................................................................................................................... 3

Nature of the Study ................................................................................................................... 4

Discussion of Method ......................................................................................................... 4

Discussion of Design .......................................................................................................... 5

Identification of Survey Tools ............................................................................................ 6

Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 7

Research Question 1 ........................................................................................................... 7

Research Question 2 ........................................................................................................... 7

Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................ 7

H10: .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

H1a: .................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

H20 ..................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

H2a ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................. 8

Discussion of Authentic Leadership Theory....................................................................... 9

Discussion of Leadership Confidence .............................................................................. 10

Discussion of Authentic Leadership and Leadership Confidence .................................... 11

ii

Summary of the Theoretical Framework ................................................................................ 11

Definition of Terms................................................................................................................. 12

Authentic ........................................................................................................................... 12

Trust .................................................................................................................................. 12

Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations ............................................................................... 12

Assumptions ...................................................................................................................... 12

Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 13

Delimitations ..................................................................................................................... 15

Significance of the Study ........................................................................................................ 16

Reduction in Gaps in the Existing Literature .................................................................... 16

Implications for Biblical Integration ................................................................................. 17

Relationship to Field of Study .......................................................................................... 18

Summary of the Significance of the Study ....................................................................... 19

A Review of the Professional and Academic Literature ......................................................... 19

History of Leadership Theory Prior to Authentic Leadership Theory .............................. 20

Great Man Theory ........................................................................................................21

Trait Theory .................................................................................................................22

Behavioral Theory .......................................................................................................22

Contingency and Situational Theory ...........................................................................23

Leader-Member Exchange Theory ..............................................................................24

Transactional Leadership Theory ................................................................................25

Transformational Leadership Theory ..........................................................................26

Laissez-Faire Leadership .............................................................................................27

iii

Overview of Authentic Leadership Theory ...................................................................... 28

Criticism of Authentic Leadership Theory ....................................................................... 31

Business Concepts of Authentic Leadership ..................................................................... 33

Perspectives of Authentic Leadership ............................................................................... 37

Positive Psychology Attributes of Authentic Leadership ................................................. 39

Authentic Leadership in Local Government ..................................................................... 43

Overview of the Concept of Confidence in Leadership and Trust ................................... 47

Variables in the Study ....................................................................................................... 53

Summary of the Literature Review ................................................................................... 53

Transition and Summary of Section 1 .................................................................................... 55

Section 2: The Project ....................................................................................................................57

Purpose Statement ................................................................................................................... 58

Role of the Researcher ............................................................................................................ 59

Participants .............................................................................................................................. 60

Research Method and Design ................................................................................................. 61

Discussion of Method ....................................................................................................... 61

Discussion of Design ........................................................................................................ 62

Summary of Research Methods and Design ..................................................................... 64

Population and Sampling ........................................................................................................ 64

Discussion of Population .................................................................................................. 64

Discussion of Sampling .................................................................................................... 65

Summary of Population and Sampling ............................................................................. 67

Data Collection ....................................................................................................................... 68

iv

Instruments ........................................................................................................................ 68

Data Collection Techniques .............................................................................................. 71

Data Organization Techniques .......................................................................................... 72

Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 73

Variables Used in the Study .............................................................................................. 73

Hypotheses 1 ..................................................................................................................... 76

Hypotheses 2 ..................................................................................................................... 77

The second null hypothesis tested for this study was that there was no statistically

significant .......................................................................................................................... 77

Statistical Analysis ............................................................................................................ 77

Summary of Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 78

Reliability and Validity ........................................................................................................... 79

Reliability .......................................................................................................................... 79

Validity ............................................................................................................................. 80

Summary of Reliability and Validity ................................................................................ 81

Transition and Summary of Section 2 .................................................................................... 82

Section 3: Application to Professional Practice and Implications for Change ..............................84

Overview of the Study ............................................................................................................ 85

Presentation of Findings ......................................................................................................... 86

Hypotheses 1 ..................................................................................................................... 90

Hypotheses 2 ..................................................................................................................... 92

Relationship of Hypotheses to Research Questions.......................................................... 95

Summary of the Findings .................................................................................................. 96

v

Application to Professional Practice ....................................................................................... 97

Training Development and Financial Impact ................................................................... 98

Retention of Employees .................................................................................................... 99

Biblical Framework ........................................................................................................ 100

Recommendations for Action ............................................................................................... 102

Training ........................................................................................................................... 103

Reallocation of Funding .................................................................................................. 104

Improved Retention of Staff ........................................................................................... 105

Recommendations for Further Studies.................................................................................. 106

Correlation of Primary Construct.................................................................................... 106

Correlation and Causation............................................................................................... 107

Other Public Sectors ....................................................................................................... 107

Reflection .............................................................................................................................. 108

Biblical Principles ........................................................................................................... 110

Summary and Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 111

References ....................................................................................................................................113

vi

List of Tables

Table 1. Confirmatory Factory Analysis of ALQ ..........................................................................69

Table 2. Sample ALQ ....................................................................................................................70

Table 3. Validity Test for LEQ ......................................................................................................71

Table 4. Sample LEQ Questions ....................................................................................................71

Table 5. Variables in Research ......................................................................................................76

Table 6. Descriptive Statistics for ALQ .........................................................................................88

Table 7. Descriptive Statistics for LEQ .........................................................................................88

Table 8. Normalized Descriptive Statistics for LEQ .....................................................................89

Table 9. Spearman Correlation for Authentic Leadership and Leadership Confidence ................92

Table 10. Descriptive Statistics for Adjusted Data ........................................................................93

Table 11. Descriptive Statistics for Difference in Scores ..............................................................94

Table 12. Independent Samples Test .............................................................................................94

vii

List of Figures

Figure 1. Relationship between Attributes of Authentic Leadership .............................................10

Figure 2. Histogram of Overall Organization Authentic Leadership ............................................89

Figure 3. Histogram of Overall Organization Leadership Confidence ..........................................90

Figure 4. Scatterplot of Authentic Leadership and Leadership Confidence ..................................91

1

Section 1: Foundation of the Study

The foundation of the study provides the groundwork for the first phase of the

dissertation process. The research study focused on authentic leadership and the relationship with

confidence in leadership throughout an organization. Existing literature is very expansive and

has been evolving as ongoing research is conducted and scholars obtain a better understanding of

leadership in general and the attributes that facilitate leadership abilities and great organizations.

One aspect of leadership that continues to be of interest is the impact of such theories to

organizations, employees within an organization, and society as a whole. This researcher sought

to build on the existing robust research and literature related to leadership and evaluate the

relationship between authentic leadership and confidence in leadership through the use of an

empirical study.

Background of the Problem

Leadership within both the public and private sectors continues to be of high interest to

both researchers and practitioners alike as a means to improve organization performance (Seijts

& MacMillan, 2018). Starbird and Cavanagh (2011) suggested that to be successful in any

business endeavor, one must have the right tool for the job. It is prevailing knowledge that

leadership plays a vital role in ensuring public and private sector organizations are successful;

without proper leadership, organizations have limited direction. Kettl (2018) conveyed that there

continues to be a steady decline in trust and confidence in government leadership and that there

is no indication of notable improvement.

Seijts and MacMillan (2018) theorized that the recent financial crisis of 2008 and

multiple high-profile business corruption cases have shifted leadership theory to focus less on

organizational theory and primarily on the character aspects of leaders. Kettl (2018) disagreed

2

and suggested that trust and confidence in organizations are impacted or lowered from the

perceived confidence or trust in other associated organizations and sectors, concluding that some

levels of distrust may be inherent due to the historical relationship between the groups. Kettl

(2018) further theorized that the best way to improve confidence and trust is to engage directly

with individuals. Hollis et al. (2018) agreed that engagement is essential and recommend

building engagement in organizations by being authentic and communicating effectively across

the organization.

Ribeiro et al. (2018) suggested that authentic leadership is an emerging leadership style

that improves organizational performance and has the potential to create an environment of

openness and trustfulness centered on the leader’s desire to be true to their moral character and

concern for others. The research conducted builds on and strengthen existing research on the

character aspect of leadership theory by examining the impact that authentic leaders have on the

perceived confidence of different levels of organizational leaders and their ability to successful

navigation the challenging conditions faced by organizations today. In addition, the research

provides insight into the degree of impact that authentic leadership and the subsequent

confidence in leadership have in regard to the varying levels of leadership within an

organization.

Problem Statement

The general problem to be addressed is the low level of authentic leadership in business,

which has resulted in lower confidence in organizational leadership throughout organizations.

Liu et al. (2018) conveyed that there continues to be a significant amount of organizational

misconduct, which one can attribute to low levels of authentic leadership in both the public and

private sectors. O'Leary (2018) reviewed the Edelman Trust Barometer and found that the trust

3

in government leaders in the United States continues to decline and was at an all-time low in

2017. This finding reflects a crisis point and need for leadership improvements, such as authentic

leadership, to build back the lost trust (O’Leary, 2018). The research conducted by Leroy et al.

(2015) agreed with the finding that that authentic leadership within organizations is low; they

surveyed 25 leaders across 35 Belgian Service companies and found that the mean authentic

leadership score was a 3.32 out of a five-point scale. Blanchard et al. (2016) conveyed that

effective leaders within organizations must maintain constant vigilance to ensure that the welfare

of employees is looked after by the leader; this includes both new and seasoned employees.

Asencio and Mujkic (2016) suggested that overall confidence and trust in leadership in the public

sector has declined in recent years, more so related to federal government leadership. The

specific problem to be addressed by this study is the low level of authentic leadership within

local government, resulting in lower confidence in organizational leadership across multiple

layers of the organization.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this quantitative, case study was to explore the relationship between

authentic leadership and the confidence that followers have for the same leadership within a

medium to large department of approximately 302 full-time employees within the chosen local

government, Chesterfield County, located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The significance of

the relationship between self- perceived leadership characteristics and follower-perceived

leadership characteristics were examined in detail and may generate an increased understanding

of authentic leadership in the context of local government. The study used validated and reliable

measures to assess the variables under investigation. The independent variable, authentic

leadership, is categorized into four separate attributes, as defined by Northouse (2016): self-

4

awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency. This

researcher determined the value of the independent variable through the use of a validated

Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) that was provided by the researcher to organizational

leaders and followers within the chosen department of Chesterfield County. This researcher

categorized the dependent variable into two aspects: self-perceived and follower perceived. The

dependent variable, confidence in leadership, will be defined as the perceived overall confidence

an employee has in their organization, their department leadership, direct supervisors, and

indirect supervisors. This researcher determined the leadership confidence level through the use

of the Leadership Efficacy Questionnaire (LEQ). The LEQ was utilized to quantify leadership

confidence. Further reflection on the findings of this research could help organizations identify

key leadership attributes and characteristics, which could be potentially utilized to strengthen

local government leadership development and decrease the likelihood of low confidence in

organizational leadership.

Nature of the Study

This researcher utilized a quantitative approach for the research study. In conjunction

with the quantitative approach, the researcher used a correlational design to establish if there was

a significant relationship between the two variables of authentic leadership and confidence in

leadership. Both the method and design of the research were determined to be the most

appropriated based on the research questions.

Discussion of Method

The research approach for this study was a quantitative research method. This researcher

chose the quantitative research method because the quantitative method typically aligns with

research that has such items as linear attributes, measurement, and statistical analysis (Stake,

5

2010). According to Creswell (2014), qualitative methods align more with text and image

analysis. As a result, a qualitative method was discarded by this researcher as a potential research

method for the study. The mixed-method research design contains both quantitative and

qualitative aspects (Creswell, 2014); this researcher did not choose this method due to limited

alignment with qualitative research attributes. Creswell and Creswell (2018) agreed with the use

of the quantitative method for the research and explain that the quantitative approaches utilize

close-ended questions or numeric data, which generally aligns well with exploring the

relationship between two variables. The chosen method supports the primary goal of the method,

which is to discover the quantity and characteristics in the sample population so that the

researcher can infer the same relationship to the parent population (Brannen, 2017).

Discussion of Design

There are three approved research designs for quantitative research at Liberty University:

descriptive, correlational, and casual comparative/quasi-experimental. This researcher chose not

to use the causal-comparative design for the research, due to the design being a form of ex post

facto research involving two or more groups (Gall et al., 2007). The research utilized one group

and two variables. This researcher eliminated the descriptive design as an option for the study

due to non-alignment with the research questions. Leavy (2017) conveyed that the descriptive

design is appropriate to provide robust descriptions of research, thereby proving meaning and

context but not relationships between variables. Yin (2018) conveyed that three conditions exist

to determine a research design: the form of the research question, the control that the researcher

has over behavior events, and the degree of focus on contemporary or historical events. The

design that most appropriately aligned with the conditions expressed by Yin (2018) was a

nonexperimental correlational design. The chosen design approach is the most appropriate design

6

due to it being nonexperimental and allows for the association between two variables with the

same study group (Gliner et al., 2016).

Identification of Survey Tools

The research utilized a quantitative research method in conjunction with a

nonexperimental correlational design. This researcher utilized a survey approach that allowed the

researcher to generalize information from the sample population to that of the general population

(Creswell, 2014). In addition to the ability to infer information about the population, the chosen

tool was both cost-effective and flexible. For this research, there were two cross-sectional

surveys utilized, the ALQ and the LEQ; the sample design was a single-stage design. The chosen

department within Chesterfield County employs approximately 302 full-time employees, across

four divisions, and 16 different centers. For the ALQ, this researcher provided all leadership

positions the survey and requested that the leaders evaluate themselves and that the followers

also evaluate the leaders. All employees within the department were provided the LEQ, leaders

were asked to evaluate themselves and followers were asked to evaluate their leaders. Access to

the results were provided directly to the researcher for use upon completion of the survey and

were retained by the researcher on the researcher’s computer. The ALQ utilized the template

presented by Walumbwa et al. (2008). The preferred method of distribution was a paper survey

distributed to the individuals in a group setting; this allowed the research background to be

discussed in depth so that all parties are informed. Upon completion of the surveys, the

researcher used statistical software to evaluate the independent variable, authentic leadership, to

the dependent variable, leadership confidence, to determine statistical significance.

7

Research Questions

The findings of the research will expand the field of knowledge related to authentic

leadership and the impact such leadership may have related to confidence in leadership. The

research will gather data from Authentic Leadership Questionnaires, created by Walumbwa et al.

(2008), to explore and validate all research assumptions regarding authentic leadership. The

questionnaires were distributed to gain data related to the self and follower perceived authentic

leadership characteristics of leaders within the chosen local government department and quantify

follower confidence in organizational leadership. The data were used to determine if a

relationship exists between authentic leadership and confidence in leadership throughout

multiple layers of local government, including direct supervision and indirect supervision. A

statistical evaluation was performed to provide insight into the relationship mentioned above to

answer the following research questions.

Research Question 1

To what extent, if any, is there a relationship between authentic leadership and

confidence in overall organizational leadership within local government?

Research Question 2

To what extent, if any, is there a difference in the relationship between authentic

leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and

indirect supervisors within local government?

Hypotheses

H10: There is no statistically significant relationship between low authentic leadership

assessment scores and lower confidence in overall organizational leadership.

8

H1a: There is a statistically significant relationship between low authentic leadership

assessment scores and lower confidence in overall organizational leadership.

H20: There is no statistically significant difference in the relationship between authentic

leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and

indirect supervisors within local government.

H2a: There is a statistically significant difference in the relationship between authentic

leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and

indirect supervisors within local government.

Theoretical Framework

There has been a multitude of classification systems developed over the last half of the

century to attempt to classify and categorize the dimensions of leadership (Fleishman et al.,

1991). Fleishman et al. (1991) were able to categorize 65 different classifications concerning

leadership dimensions, demonstrating how extensive existing literature on leadership theory is.

In recent literature, authors suggest that the power dynamic of leadership has shifted from being

centralized with the leader to being more centralized with the follower (Kellerman, 2012). The

change in the power dynamic suggests that researchers studying the impact on followers need a

higher level of emphasis on perceived attributes of effective leadership (Kellerman, 2012).

Northouse (2016) rationalized that the central phenomenon of leadership consists of four main

concepts: leadership is a process; leadership involves influence; leadership occurs in a group;

leadership involves common goals. The research study examined this central phenomenon of

leadership, as defined by Northouse (2016), through the context of authentic leadership and the

impact such leadership has in the public sector to follower perceived confidence and trust in

leadership.

9

Discussion of Authentic Leadership Theory

Authentic leadership theory, much like central leadership theory in general, does not have

a clear definition and can be categorized into three different perspectives: intrapersonal,

interpersonal, and developmental (Northouse, 2016). The research utilizes the developmental

perspective, specifically authentic leadership theory, as defined by Walumbwa et al. (2008),

which suggests that authentic leadership can be nurtured and developed in a leader rather than

being inherent to specific individuals. The intrapersonal perspective of authentic leadership

suggests that a leader's personal experiences and convictions contribute the most to their ability

to be authentic leaders (Shamir & Eilam, 2005). The last perspective, intrapersonal, suggests that

leaders form authentic leadership from the relationship created between the leader and the

follower, further suggesting that the process of authentic leadership development requires a

reciprocating component between the follower and the leader (Eagly, 2005). Each of these

perspectives differs on the way that authentic leadership is created in an individual, and all have

valid contributions to authentic leadership theory. Northouse (2016) suggested that

fundamentally, these perspectives all use four primary factors to establish the characteristics of

authentic leadership: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and

relational transparency. Walumbwa et al. (2008) developed a 16-item questionnaire focused on

these four primary factors to establish a balanced approach to evaluating authentic leadership.

The developmental perspective was chosen to further the understanding of how authentic

leadership development impacts overall confidence or trust in leadership and the existence of a

relationship between the two chosen variables, authentic leadership, and confidence in

leadership. The research findings could strengthen the understanding of the developmental

perspective of authentic leadership as an effective means for the public sector to increase

10

leadership capabilities and overall confidence in leadership through the use of additional

resources.

Figure 1

Relationship between Attributes of Authentic Leadership

Adapted from leadership: Theory and practice (p. 202), by Northouse, 2016, Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.

Discussion of Leadership Confidence

Researchers can interpret leadership confidence as both the confidence the leader has in

their abilities and the confidence that a follower has in the leader’s abilities. Söderhjelm et al.

(2018) suggested that as confidence in leadership weakens, there can be an increase in overall

employee dissatisfaction. Yasir et al. (2016) examined the confidence and subsequent trust in

leaders by looking at multiple leadership styles (transactional, transformational, and laissez-faire)

and the subsequent impact on trust and confidence. Yasir et al. (2016) concluded that

organizations are more effective at change management based on which type of leadership style

is displayed, and the confidence or trust that followers had in the leadership also changed

11

depending on the leadership style. Researchers can directly attribute overall organizational

effectiveness to trust and confidence in leadership (Chughtai et al., 2015).

Discussion of Authentic Leadership and Leadership Confidence

There exist four positive psychological attributes that have an impact on authentic

leadership: confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience (Lee et al., 2019). Kouzes and Posner

(2017) suggested that individuals follow someone when they are honest, competent, inspiring,

and forward-looking. These attributes mirror the psychological attributes that impact authentic

leadership, suggesting that there may be potential for a significant relationship between the

variables of authentic leadership and leadership confidence. In addition, the self-awareness

attribute of authentic leadership suggests that individuals that are highly self-aware and confident

will be more likely to be attuned to their abilities and the perceptions of their followers.

Summary of the Theoretical Framework

General leadership theory is hugely expansive and continuously evolving, the research

study utilized the developmental perspective of authentic leadership theory to characterize the

leadership attributes of leaders within the chosen organization and explore the relationship

between authentic leadership and confidence in leadership. This author rationalizes that the three

perspectives of authentic leadership are similar concerning the core components and differ

concerning how individuals become authentic leaders within organizations. This study does not

seek to examine the difference in the creation of authentic leaders but seeks to expand on the

existing knowledge of the core components of authentic leadership and establish a relationship

between the follower’s perceived attributes of the leader's abilities. This author theorizes that

there may exist a positive relationship that is similar to that of transformational leadership and

trust.

12

Definition of Terms

Authentic leadership: Scholars define authentic leadership as a new field of leadership

research that emphasizes genuine or real leadership (Northouse, 2016).

Trust: Trust can be defined as the belief among a group of individuals or an individual

that another individual will behave in a manner that aligns with their previous commitments,

both explicit and implicit; is honest in their interactions; does not take advantage of others, even

if opportunities present themselves (Kramer & Tyler, 1996).

Assumptions, Limitations, Delimitations

The research study has several assumptions, limitations, delimitations that need to be

addressed to ensure the research was conducted in a proper manner. Three assumptions were

identified: participants are truthful, there is a sincere interest by the participants in the research,

and that the participants represent a typical government. Five limitations were identified:

response rate, population size, degree of generalizability, potential for sample bias, and time

constraints. The delimitations of the research were determined primarily due to the chosen design

of the research and subsequently prevented the researcher from establishing causation between

the variable, which was not desired for this study due to the complex nature and multiple factors

contributing to confidence in leadership.

Assumptions

This researcher assumed that participants of the research study responded truthfully to the

surveys presented. This researcher sought to minimize the risk that participants may not answer

truthfully, for fear of retribution, by keeping their identities confidential through the use of

unique identifiers. Lelkes et al. (2012) conveyed that the most used technique for minimizing the

potential for dishonestly is the use of confidentiality while completing surveys. The researcher

13

disclosed this practice to the participants before providing the surveys. In addition, this

researcher assumed that participants had a sincere interest in participating in research and did not

have any ulterior motives for participating in the research study. Raihani and Bshary (2015)

examined the motivations of individuals to help others and found that individuals inherently help

one another in a cooperative environment. The third assumption for the research study was that

the chosen department is representative of the typical positions found in local government. Ponto

(2015) conveyed that in order for research to be able to draw conclusions about the populations

then the sample must include characteristics about the population. A review of the positions

within the chosen department indicates that there were the following positions in the department:

accountants, engineers, inspectors, administrative support staff, equipment operators, field

personnel, customer support personnel, information system personnel, and record specialists;

these positions reflect similar positions in local government. The final assumption for the

research study was that the response pattern was normally distributed to allow for a more robust

statistical evaluation of the results. Sullivan and Artino (2013) conveyed that parametric test can

be used for Likert scale response; however normally distributed responses provide a more robust

evaluation.

Limitations

The participants of the research study were individuals within a medium to large

department with a local government. The population of the department was approximately 302

with the desired response rate of 170 individuals; this response rate will provide a confidence

level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 5 percent. The desired response rate of the chosen

department was slightly higher than the typical response rate at 67 percent. If adequate responses

were not received, then the sample population would have not been considered representative of

14

the desired population and the statistical results would not have been able to be generalized to the

larger population; however, this was not the case for the study.

In addition to potential sample size limitations, there was a potential for a limitation in

the degree of generalizability. The research study sought to study a medium to large department

with a local government within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Inherent work cultures for the

Commonwealth of Virginia may have differed from those in other regions of the United States or

worldwide. Resources for the research study were limited, expanding the scope of the study to

increase the potential for generalizability was not practical due to access to additional

participants from different geographical regions and inherent time constraints. The researcher

selected the chosen department due to the availability of access to participants. As a result of the

ease of access, there was a potential for sample bias due to the researcher working for the

organization over multiple years. Individuals that have worked with the researcher closely may

have been more or less likely to respond depending on past relationships and this relationship

may have impacted the response rate for those individuals. Previous assumptions related to

maintaining confidentially through unique identifiers may have improved the likelihood of more

respondents and reduced the potential for sample bias. It is important to note that the researcher

is in a leadership position within the chosen local government. To prevent bias of results, the

researcher utilized an additional individual to record the responses from individuals that the

researcher has a direct leadership relationship. This extra step, in conjunction with the unique

identifiers, ensured that any bias was limited and not impactful to the findings of the research.

As mentioned above, the research was restricted by time and ability of the researcher to

provide the surveys, review the data, and report on findings. Expanding the sample populations

further across multiple departments, the entire local government, or multiple local governments

15

would have created a time constraint that would have been unrealistic and impractical to

accomplish within the limited timeframe provided. Future studies may desire to expand on the

initial research to include multiple departments within a local government, an entire local

government, or multiple local governments.

Delimitations

This researcher limited the research to one medium to large department with the chosen

local government within the Commonwealth of Virginia to evaluate the relationship between

authentic leadership and confidence in leadership across multiple layers within the same

department. The chosen population for the study was approximately 302 local government

employees, with an expected sample size of 170 participants.

The researcher determined that a correlational study evaluating authentic leadership and

confidence or trust in leadership would provide value to the field of research and organizations

by showing the significance of the relationship between the variable authentic leadership and

confidence or trust. The research study did not seek to determine causation between the

variables, as many factors contribute to each variable that is beyond the scope of this study to

examine in detail.

The researcher utilized the ALQ and LEQ as survey instruments for the study. The ALQ

is a 16-question questionnaire designed around the four dimensions of authentic leadership

(Walumbwa et al., 2008). The LEQ is a 22-question questionnaire adapted for self-efficacy

(Bobbio & Manganelli, 2009). This researcher used the LEQ as a metric for followers to evaluate

the efficacy of the leader from the follower perception instead of the traditional leader perceived

pathway. There exist limited validated surveys for authentic leadership; this researcher was

limited to ALQ. There are many questionnaires available for trust or leadership confidence, both

16

in a team and individual settings (Bobbio & Manganelli, 2009). The researcher chose the LEQ

questionnaire due to the simple nature of the survey, length, and ease of adaptation to the

research.

Significance of the Study

The research seeks to fill existing gaps in research related to authentic leadership by

contributing to empirical and practitioner classifications of research. The research also seeks to

provide a viewpoint into public sector, primarily the local government, which appears to be not

well represented in existing research. The research further seeks to strengthen the available

public sector research related to authentic leadership. The research builds on the existing

leadership’s research and authentic leadership research by examining how leaders perceive their

own authentic leadership, how followers perceive the authentic leadership, and the subsequent

impact to confidence in leadership from both.

Reduction in Gaps in the Existing Literature

The types of publications on authentic leadership can be divided or classified into three

main categories: theoretical, empirical, and practitioner; most publications being theoretical in

nature (Gardner et al., 2011). The study seeks to strengthen existing research by expanding on

the available research that is empirical and practitioner in nature. In the review of existing

literature, there exists a significant amount of research related to the private sector that focuses

on the rapidly changing business environment and ways to improve an organization’s ability to

sustain market challenges through leadership (Arda et al., 2016). Existing research and studies of

the public sector are primarily focused on the healthcare sector of the public sector (Coxen et al.,

2016). Coxen et al. (2016) concluded that authentic leadership had an indirect impact on

organizational citizenship behavior through the context of trust. The research study seeks to

17

focus on the less evaluated division of the public sector, local government and expand on the

knowledge related to the impact that authentic leadership has on local government operations

through the context of authentic leadership the relationship between followers and leaders.

Implications for Biblical Integration

There exist numerous examples of authentic leadership throughout the Bible, with the

most prominent example being Jesus Christ, who has had the most significant impact on the

Christian faith. The ALQ offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate through the four attributes

of authentic leadership: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and

relational transparency, within the questionnaire mentioned above, examples found in the

biblical scripture of Jesus Christ being an authentic leader. The first question provided by the

ALQ, which reflects self-awareness, asks a leader to list their three most significant weaknesses

and demonstrates self-awareness. Jesus Christ was tested on his self-awareness and his weakness

when the Spirit led him into the wilderness for forty days and nights (New International Version,

2011, Matthew 4:1-11). Through this test, Jesus demonstrates his ability to acknowledge his

weakness and overcome them. The second question of the ALQ, which reflects an internalized

moral perspective, asks the leader to evaluate if their action reflects their core values. Jesus

Christ's actions truly do reflect his core values; this is demonstrated through his display of

humility and servanthood when he washed the feet of his disciples (New International Version,

2011, John 13:1-17). The third question of the ALQ, which reflects balanced processing, asks if

the leader seeks the opinions of others before making a decision. Scholars can see this attribute

in Luke 2:46 (New International Version, 2011); Jesus Christ spent three days in the temple,

sitting among many teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions to gather a better

understanding. The fourth question of the ALQ, which reflects relational transparency, asks the

18

leader if they openly share their feelings with others. It is a well-known fact by scholars that

Jesus Christ shared his opinions frequently and openly with others. An example of this can be

seen by researchers when Jesus Christ prevents the stoning of women that he did not directly

agree with, Jesus proclaimed “Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone

at her” (New International Version, 2011, John 8:6-8). These examples are only a few of the

many times that authentic leadership display by Jesus Christ in scripture; many more exist at

every recount of his life experiences.

Relationship to Field of Study

The research examines the impact that authentic leadership plays in local government

with regards to the overall confidence employees have with leaders that exhibit authentic

leadership traits. Gardiner (2017) conveyed that authentic leadership first emerged as a

leadership theory to overcome the notion that there were ethical concerns with the current

leadership and subsequently morphed into a theory that seeks to improve organizational

efficiencies. Authentic leadership theory investigates leadership characteristics across four

primary factors: balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, relational-transparency,

and self-awareness (Gardiner, 2017). Sidani and Rowe (2018) suggested that one of the prime

drivers of authentic leadership is the perception of moral judgement, indicating that authentic

leadership is the follower’s perception of the moral judgment of the leader. This research

examines the moral judgment through the lens of the leader’s internalized moral perspective on a

finite level. Hsieh and Wang (2015) rationalized that the trust or confidence of an employee is

gained by a leader when that leader demonstrates authentic leadership that is congruent with

employee expectations. The research allows this author to examine the leader-follower

relationship of authentic leadership on two levels, how leaders perceive their own authentic

19

leadership, how followers perceive the authentic leadership and the subsequent impact to

confidence in leadership from both. Effective leadership remains a topic of research that is

driven by the desire to improve both organizational and individual performance (Hadian-Nasab

& Afshari, 2019). The research concepts will strengthen the existing research on authentic

leadership to facilitate a better understanding of effective leadership and improving the

interaction between leaders and followers. Hadian-Nasab and Afshari (2019) conveyed that there

is a growing demand for research to further enhance the understanding of ethically sound

leadership approaches to today’s work environments.

Summary of the Significance of the Study

The research study sought to strengthen the understanding of the impact of authentic

leadership, fill two existing gaps in research and literature: empirical studies and government

sector research, and build on the robust and authentic leadership standard established in biblical

scripture through the life experiences of Jesus Christ. The research is heavily grounded in current

leadership theory and seeks to examine local government leaders across four primary factors:

balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, relational-transparency, and self-awareness

to be better understand the relationship between authentic leadership and confidence or trust in

leadership. The findings of this research will be of high importance to leadership researchers,

public sector leaders, public sector followers, individuals seeking to step into a leadership role

within the public sector, public sector human resource managers, and public sector talent

development personnel.

A Review of the Professional and Academic Literature

Scholars have increasingly recognized leadership as a critical function of organizational

and institutional management, which facilitates the maximization of efficiency and promotes the

20

achievement of the organizational goals and objectives (Li et al., 2016). Accordingly, an

effective leader is expected to initiate action, motivate and guide followers, create confidence,

build morale, coordinate, and create a positive and progressive work environment for the

employees. The following literature review will provide the reader a background on the key

historical progression of leadership research, ranging from the Great Man theory on leadership to

the recent transformation leadership theory to convey a broad understanding of the different

leadership theories. The four core characteristics of authentic leadership are defined by this

author, along with the three different perspectives and also the positive psychological attributes.

Business and public sector aspects are examined to provide perspective on how leaders apply

authentic leadership to those environments. The concepts of leadership and confidence/trust are

examined to provide an understanding of the unique relationship and impact when confidence in

leadership or trust is lost. The concept of trust is examined by this author to establish the benefits

of trust, how trust can be established on an organizational level and at an individual level, and

how organizations need a higher level of trust in the ever-evolving business environment.

History of Leadership Theory Prior to Authentic Leadership Theory

There exist a multitude of literature on leadership, in the past few decades the research

has developed to incorporate how leadership impacts an organization’s ability to sustain profits,

increase productivity, and establish or maintain a competitive advantage (Yahaya & Ebrahim,

2016). As a result, there have been significant classifications and theories generated to explain

the concept of leadership, often with the newest theory expanding on the previous concepts

(Khan et al., 2016). Some of the theories that have emerged over recent history include the Great

Man theory, Trait theory, Style and Behavioral theory, Transformational, Transactional, and

Laissez-Faire leadership theory (Khan et al., 2016). The historical review of leadership concepts

21

will touch on some of these theories and is not intended to be all-inclusive; an extensive review

would be too robust and beyond the scope of this literature review.

Great Man Theory. The Great Man theory was established in 1840 by Thomas Carlyle

when he provided six public lectures on the topic of heroes and history (Spector, 2016). The

traditional Great Man theory suggests that great men or leaders are born; however, current Great

Man theory suggests that great men can be made (Mouton, 2019). Examples can be found in

today’s corporate world and can be seen through the ever-increasing upward trend of CEO pay,

even though there have been abundant examples of misconduct or misdeeds by those same CEOs

(Spector, 2016). The same corporations often seek a great leader to pull a failing organization

from the pit of failure, suggesting that current organizations still believe that great leaders can

shape history (Spector, 2016). Mouton (2019) further contended that the Great Man theory is still

very much present in today's political environment and that the phenomenon is easily

demonstrated through the continual existence of dictatorships and the idealization of influential

political figures.

Frisk (2019) researched heroism as an aspect of the Great Man theory through four

perspectives: the traditional study of great men, hero stories, heroic actions, and heroic

institutions. Frisk (2019) provided a potential negative viewpoint of Great Man theory, dark

heroism, and suggests that highly charismatic such as those found in Nazi Germany, can have a

very damaging impact on society. Allison and Goethals (2016) rationalized that individuals

within society have always been drawn to the concept of the Great Man or the stories of heroes

and that these tales can be found in the earliest literature and include aspects of mythology. The

concept of the Great Man or hero through literature promotes two essential human development

functions, the epistemic function and the energizing function (Allison & Goethals, 2016). The

22

epistemic function refers to the ability to impart knowledge through the telling of stories about

Great Men, and the energizing function inspires individuals to emulate the Great Men, be it for

better or for worst (Allison & Goethals, 2016).

Trait Theory. Research in the early 1900’s lead scholars to begin to seek to understand

what differentiates leaders from everyone else and further sought to explain why specific

individuals were more effective as leaders (Derue et al., 2011). Zaccaro (2007) conveyed that

leadership traits were initially understood to be innate or heritable qualities of the individual;

however, this thinking process shifted to establishing traits of leadership that could be obtained

to become an effective leader. Scholars can see the trait approach as a moderate advancement

from the Great Man theory, with the primary difference being a shift from a focus on impactful

leaders to the leadership traits of those same leaders (Clark & Harrison, 2018). Stogdill (1948)

conducted extensive research on trait leadership and concluded that there were eight primary

traits found in leaders: intelligence, alertness, insight, responsibility, initiative, persistence, self-

confidence, and sociability. Current scholars still debate on which traits are essential for leaders

for trait leadership theory, for example, the United States Marines have 14: justice, judgment,

dependability, initiative, decisiveness, tact, integrity, endurance, bearing, unselfishness, courage,

knowledge, loyalty, and enthusiasm (Custis, 2017). Tropman and Blackburn (2018) disagreed

with the concept that there needs to be an extensive list of traits and argues that there are

genuinely only four traits needed for exemplary executive leadership: integrity, empathy,

genuineness, and humility.

Behavioral Theory. Behavioral theory challenged the concept that leaders are born and

have inherent abilities to lead and replaced the previous concept with actions that leaders take

and how they react (Clark & Harrison, 2018). Three of the most influential contributions of this

23

period of leadership theory are the three leadership styles by Lewin et al., Four Factor theory by

Bowers and Seashore, and Theory X and Theory Y by McGregor (Clark & Harrison, 2018). In

addition to these significant contributions, scholars in Michigan and Ohio State performed

essential studies that established that employee orientation and consideration were two

fundamental dimensions of leadership behavior related to behavioral leadership theory

(Kunnanatt, 2016). Another way of considering the two dimensions identified is the research

conducted by Ohio State, which conveys the dimensions as consideration and initiation structure

or also known as task and relationship orientations (Gartzia & Baniandrés, 2016). Scholars can

define the relationship orientation as the level of concern that a leader shows toward their team

(Gartzia & Baniandrés, 2016). Scholars can define the task orientation as the degree to which the

leader is centered on achieving goals or specific metrics (Gartzia & Baniandrés, 2016). Research

in behavior leadership theory has produced extensive literature on characteristics of effective

leaders, including such items as the seven attributes or habits of effective leaders and the five

emotional intelligence attributes (Allen, 2018). It is important to note that research in behavior

leadership does not propose that there is a single characteristic of leadership that is effective in

every possible scenario (Allen, 2018).

Contingency and Situational Theory. Contingency theory emerged in the 1960s based

on the idea that leadership styles were dependent on situations and attempts to analyze a leader’s

effectiveness related to unique situations (Tal & Gordon, 2016). In 1967, Fiedler formulated the

contingency theory on leadership to provide context on the leader task and relationship

orientation, evaluating these attributes against the overall effectiveness of the leader (Allen,

2018). In 1969, Hersey and Blanchard emerged with the concept of situational leadership that

attempted to address the overall needs of workers and the ability of leaders to meet those same

24

needs (Allen, 2018). Clark and Harrison (2018) suggested that contingency theory is linked to

situational theory and that the major contributors to this era were Katz and Kahn’s organizational

structures, Vroom and Yetton’s Normative Decision Model, Stogdill’s Role Attainment theory,

Homans’ Leader Role theory, House’s Path-Goal theory, Fiedler’s Contingency theory, and

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership theory. Kunnanatt (2016) agreed with the above

concepts and suggests that the various contingency or situational theories are based on the

concept that a leader's effectiveness is highly dependent on the situation that the leader is placed

in; as a result, the impact of those same leaders can vary dramatically. Wright (2017) proclaimed

that situational leadership theory is the most common leadership theory used currently in the

business environment, primarily because it identifies a right or wrong leadership style. The

effectiveness of the leader to judge the appropriate response to different needs and abilities of the

team members is a significant component of the theory and suggests that leaders need to

continually readjust their approach based on the needs of the follower (Wright, 2017).

Leader-Member Exchange Theory. The leader-member exchange theory emerged in

the 1970s and attempted to explain the leadership-follower relationship based on the dynamics of

the interactions between the same individuals (Tal & Gordon, 2016). The leader-member

exchange theory furthered the understanding of leadership by exploring the relationship between

a leader and the follower and rejected the situational approach that suggested leadership styles

should be adapted (Clark & Harrison, 2018). Nie and Lämsä (2015) agreed with the importance

of understanding the leader-follower relationship and convey that leader-member exchange

theory establishes that a high-quality relationship between leaders and followers enables both

individuals to meet work demands and gives them further opportunity to develop socially and

morally, which contributes to the overall success of the organization.

25

Sheer (2015) agreed with the importance of the leader-follower relations but contends

that there are limited resources available to the leader and that the leader develops an in and out-

group of followers. The ingroup of followers receives much attention and high-quality support.

The outgroup receives less attention and less support from the leader (Sheer, 2015). As a direct

result, the ingroup employees tend to have a higher level of performance than the outgroup

employees (Sheer, 2015). Zhao et al. (2019) agreed and rationalized that increased support and

encouragement enhances the follower's perception of their value and thereby creates an

environment that motivates them to identify the organization's values as their own. Zhao et al.

(2019) further suggested that the identification with the organization shapes the social identity

and is the primary factor that shapes cooperative attitudes and behaviors.

Transactional Leadership Theory. Transactional leadership is not known for

innovation or creativity; however, this type of leadership has played a critical role into today's

organizations because it provides the basic understanding of expectations, contract negotiating,

clarification of responsibilities, and providing incentives to reward and recognize employees so

that they achieve organization objectives (Hussain et al., 2017). The central theme of

transactional leadership is the exchange between the leader and the follower; this type of

behavior provides an environment that strives for excellence and efficiency (Hussain et al.,

2017). Jensen et al. (2019) agreed and conveyed that transaction leadership is focused primarily

on leaders rewarding employees for demonstrating high levels of effort and penalizing them for

low levels of effort or low performance. Leaders and organizations accomplish the goal of

recognition by creating incentive structures to promote employee engagement in accomplishing

the ultimate goals of the organization (Jensen et al., 2019). Research conducted by Xenikou

(2017) supported this conclusion and found that contingent reward mechanisms were positively

26

related to affective identification, also known as providing meaningful and positive feelings

about the social group or organizational group. Xenikou (2017) theorized that when there is clear

identification of tasks and roles, a reward system is in place, and followers receive adequate

rewards for their accomplishments, then emotional bonding between the employee and

organization takes place.

Transformational Leadership Theory. Transformational leadership developed in the

1980s as a means to explain the impact of charisma and the ability of charismatic leaders to

transform themselves, their organizations, and their followers (Tal & Gordon, 2016).

Transformational leadership is the opposite of the previous transactional leadership approach,

which established that employees had minimum ambition in their work duties that they would

avoid responsibilities when possible, and that employees received rewards when they complied

with performance expectations and organizational goals (Kwan, 2019). Transformational leaders,

unlike transactional leaders, believe their followers have a genuine desire to perform and garner

accomplishments and attempts to lead them to embrace and internalize the mission, vision, and

goals of the organization, thereby transforming them to be motivated and to take on more

responsibilities (Kwan, 2019). Jensen et al. (2019) agreed and argued that transformational

leadership encourages followers to transcend their own needs or self-interest for the sake of the

organization's goals and interests.

Ma and Jiang (2018) pointed out that researchers must consider some negative aspects of

transformational leadership. The charisma and natural narcissistic characteristics of individuals

who typically identify as transformation leaders create the potential for the leader to be overly

confident and optimistic in their abilities or the ability to control others (Ma & Jiang, 2018).

These mentioned characteristics potentially have a negative outcome associated with employee

27

creativity and their sense of security (Ma & Jiang, 2018). Xenikou (2017) suggested that

transformation and transactional leadership are complementary forms of leadership and that

when they are considered together, they augment the potential weakness of one another;

therefore, these leadership sytles are subsequently more likely to contribute to overall

organizational effectiveness than if transformational or transactional leadership was considered

alone.

Laissez-Faire Leadership. Laissez-Faire leadership can be considered the absence of

leadership and typically describes leaders that avoid issues or decisions or overall choose not to

accept responsibility for their actions or team (Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2016). Pahi and Hamid

(2016) generally agreed and conveyed that literature paints a picture of laissez-faire leadership

being depicted as the non-leadership or as a destructive leadership style. Wong and Giessner

(2018) disagreed and contended that the Laissez-Faire leadership style and approach of

empowerment are one in the same, dependent on the perspective of the follower. The typical

concept of laissez-faire leadership is that it is a passive leadership style that relies on followers to

make decisions; this concept is very similar to empowerment, where the leader actively gives the

decision-making process to the follower (Wong & Giessner, 2018). Yang (2015) argued that the

passive approach of laissez-faire leadership leads to positive outcomes like autonomous

motivation, generic empowerment, and self-leadership. Yang (2015) further contended that the

situation or environment that the leader and follower are exposed to plays a significant factor in

determining if a laissez-faire leadership style will be useful. Pahi and Hamid (2016) agreed with

this concept and reflect that the laissez-faire leadership style can be useful when employees are

highly skilled, highly experienced, well educated, have pride in their work, and when the

employee is driven to succeed.

28

Overview of Authentic Leadership Theory

Scholars and researchers have increasingly recognized leadership as a critical function of

organizational and institutional management, which facilitates the maximization of efficiency

and promotes the achievement of the organizational goals and objectives (Schein & Schein,

2018). Authentic leadership has recently emerged in the last two decades from the initial work by

Kernis in 2003 that focused on authentic functioning; this work conveys that authentic leadership

is an open and non-defensive means of interacting with others and with oneself or an aspect of

internal reflection (Gill et al., 2018). Gill et al. (2018) proposed that authentic leadership is not

only an effective leadership style but also is needed for ensuring alignment between intended,

actual, and perceived human resources practices through the leader’s intrapersonal qualities and

the inherent trust established between these leaders and followers. Covelli and Mason (2017)

rationalized that authentic leadership is a multi-dimensional leadership theory that has influences

from a multitude of other theories, including but not limited to transformational leadership,

servant leadership, ethical leadership, and situational leadership. The unique difference in

authentic leadership from other leadership theories is that leader strives to be authentic in all

actions above all else and that there is no defined traits, style, or skills needed to accomplish this

overall goal (Covelli & Mason, 2017). Covelli and Mason (2017) argued that this unique concept

allows the leader to adapt to specific situations based on past experiences more effectively. The

increased frequency of public and corporate scandals has raised the interest in positive leadership

that promotes ethical, moral behavior in addition to the traditional expectations to initiate action,

motivate and guide followers, create confidence, build morale, coordinate, and create a positive

and progressive work environment for the employees (Hoch et al., 2018).

29

Almost 2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Socrates stressed the significance of self-

awareness, building on this concept current researchers of authentic leadership would agree with

the importance of self-awareness (Podrez, 2017). Current practitioners and researchers have

further established self-awareness, authenticity, and self-regulation as crucial elements of

leadership (Wei et al., 2018). The philosophical declaration of self-awareness as the value of

self-worth was eventually built upon by Chester Barnard when he analyzed the functions of

organizational executives (Williamson, 1995). Under this investigation, Bernard underscored the

importance of authenticity as the backbone of corporate and institutional management

(Williamson, 1995), which can be further interpreted by individuals and scholars as leadership

authenticity being an essential parameter for measuring the quality of a competent executive.

Among the popular models for authentic leadership from the organizational context is the Bill

George’s model, which popularizes the need for authentic leadership in popular culture and

management research through the reflection on his successes over three decades as an

international entrepreneur (Qureshi & Hassan, 2019). George and Sims (2007) established the

essential qualities of authentic leaders as purpose, strong values, relationships, self-discipline,

and heart. These traits align with the concepts of self-awareness, internalized moral perspective,

balanced processing, and relational transparency. George and Sims further suggest that the key to

authentic leadership is establishing a vision of the person that the leader is or a True North

(George & Sims, 2007). This vision of True North reinforces the importance of self-awareness as

a critical component of authentic leadership.

The value of the internal moral perspective has gained increased awareness in recent

decades and has led to the general understanding that the internal perspective, or self, plays a

critical role in the moral judgment of an individual (Jennings et al., 2015). Morality can be

30

considered a central characteristic of a person and is understood by scholars as not only simple

moral reasoning but the true center or heart of an individual (Jennings et al., 2015). Garrigan et

al. (2018) disagreed and argued that moral judgments are not inherent to the character but a

result of learned life experiences over time, suggesting that individuals can gain an internal

moral perspective as they progress through life. Jennings et al. (2015) suggested that learned

experiences are not enough by rationalizing that the moral perspective of self is intensely

centered on a person's self-identity and the actions taken related to the particular way an

individual think and regularly behaves. A moral perspective is a powerful component to action;

an individual may choose to disobey laws or social norms based on the misalignment of their

moral perspective with the action under consideration (Garrigan et al., 2018). Individuals that

can use an internal moral perspective effectively can guide their behaviors so that those same

behaviors are consistent and resistant to external pressures that may seek to influence them

(Onyalla, 2018). This concept suggests that those same individuals adhere to virtue ethics, as

defined by Aristotle (Onyalla, 2018).

Individuals can see balanced processing as the ability of leaders to show that they have

objectivity when analyzing information or data and that the leader considers all pieces of

information before reaching a final decision (Larsson & Eid, 2012). Guenter et al. (2017) built on

this concept and expressed that balanced processing demonstrates that an individual is open to

both positive and negative information while also limiting the impact of self-defense mechanism

that is triggered by other with opposing viewpoints. Evaluating both positive and negative

information and receiving feedback from followers allows the organization or team to develop an

accurate and reflective sense of their position with the team and leader to establish a better

relationship over time (Guenter et al., 2017). Shapira-Lishchinsky (2014) agreed with these

31

findings and found through research that principals often demonstrated authentic leadership and

caring through ethical decision making that was based primarily on considering different

perspectives, thereby demonstrating that they genuinely cared about the best way to lead in the

educational sector.

Relational transparency is one of the most accepted cornerstones of authentic leadership

theory and has been consistently present throughout the conceptualization of authentic leadership

as a leadership theory (Kempster et al., 2019). Literature suggests that relational transparency

requires individuals to share information openly but also through a filter, often regulating

emotions to reduce the likelihood of inappropriate emotions (Datta, 2015). Kempster et al.

(2019) further suggested that there is potential for conflict to exist when a leader attempts to

promote relational transparency and conveys that a paradox exists for leaders in that they are

asked to be authentic and transparent, but also asked to restrict pure emotion to promote the

follower and organizational expectation of sound leadership. The ability of a leader to effectively

utilize relational transparency impacts the perceived trustworthiness of the leader through the

viewpoint of the follower, which has shown to improve the job performance and job satisfaction

of the employee (Gilbert et al., 2015). Gatling et al. (2017) built on the importance of relational

transparency to job performance and conveyed that poor relational transparency can dramatically

impact a followers’ ethical behaviors. The lack of relational transparency often can result in

followers distrusting the leader and hiding mistakes and errors to the detriment of the

organization and leader (Gatling et al., 2017).

Criticism of Authentic Leadership Theory

All leadership theories have some level of criticism from scholars. Ford and Harding

(2011) rationalized that authentic leadership is also not entirely without criticism and conveyed

32

that authentic leadership has the potential to damage followers. Followers of authentic leaders

that have low self-identification or self-clarity may strive to emulate the leader's characteristics

and, in doing so, become unauthentic themselves (Ford & Harding, 2011). Hanold (2017) agreed

that authentic leadership theory has its flaws and conveys that the power relationship between the

leaders and the follower remains a relatively underdeveloped concept and suggests that the

current concept of authentic leaders requires the leader to continually work on being authentic

with little attention on collaboration and competing interests. Hanold (2017) further suggested

that a critical attribute missing from authentic leadership is withness thinking and explained that

withness thinking is allowing others to connect to the self of the leader to enable them to

influence the inner dialogue of the leader. Berkovich (2014) agreed with the concept that

authentic leadership theory lacks an essential communication component and suggested that

communication between the individual is the sole path to self-authentication. Berkovich (2017

further suggested that in order for a leader to be effective and develop that the four attributes of

genuine dialogue must be incorporated, which are presently absent from traditional authentic

leadership theory: candor, inclusion, confirmation, and presentness. The discussion of

communication and relational transparency introduces another concept of criticism, too many

authentic conversations (Alvesson & Einola, 2019). Alvession and Einola (2019) rationalized

that the positive perception of the authentic relationship is flawed and that unfiltered social

interactions may cause workplace damage as conflict emerge and escalate, which calls into

question the validity of relational transparency.

Ladkin et al. (2018) provided additional criticisms of authentic leadership theory by

rationalizing that current dominant positive images of authentic leadership presented by research

and literature can cause leaders to suppress their true-self and only display those characteristics

33

widely accepted. The action of leaders to suppress their true self can then lead to a paradoxical

inauthentic behavior, which is not the true intent of authentic leadership theory (Ladkin et al.,

2018). Ladkin et al. (2018) further contended that in order for authentic leadership to be

effective, individuals need to look past the traditional authentic leadership template and accept

that leaders also have real non-positive characteristics that must be accepted. Crawford et al.

(2020) suggested that there are three additional flaws with authentic leadership theory beyond

those provided above concerning the leader component of authentic leadership: ambiguity

between an authentic individual and an authentic leader, construct clarity, and leader centricity.

Crawford et al. (2020) explained that recent authentic leadership research and literature have not

differentiated between authentic followership and leadership and remain very leader centric.

Crawford et al. (2020) further explained that researchers in the literature do not clearly establish

different characteristics between an authentic leader and an authentic person and, as a result, also

creates some construct confusion with respect to the existing literature.

Business Concepts of Authentic Leadership

Low authentic leadership within organizations can manifest in leaders as lack of purpose

and can contribute to a lack of self-awareness regarding where the leader stands, their direction,

and their purpose (Qu et al., 2019). Qu et al. (2019) further conveyed that leaders in business that

are authentic, act in a manner that is reflective of their words and values, thereby creating a

resistance to external pressures that could comprise those values into today's business

environment. In the above definition of authentic leadership, self-awareness plays a critical

component. It emphasizes the need for individuals to understand themselves related to

weaknesses and strengths, as well as the impact that they have on others. Self-awareness is a

career-long process rather than an end in and of itself, mainly because authentic leadership has

34

the ability to influences followers’ work engagement, which in turn can have a positive or

negative effect on job performance over the years (Wei et al., 2018). One can further conclude

that a leader that lacks authenticity is not aware of their identity, motives, emotions, and passion.

According to Sandhu and Dastgeer (2019), a leader's purpose is demonstrated by them through

passion; non-authentic business leaders lack interest in what they do, they lack the intrinsic

motivation and enthusiasm from which authentic leaders derive their energy and internal will to

execute their leadership duties.

An internalized moral perspective, the second aspect of authentic leadership, can also be

viewed through the lens of business. Over the last few decades, organizations have come to

recognize the prominent role that values have with accomplishing their goals and have used them

as a means of promoting consistent behavior within the organization and stakeholder engagement

(Bjørge & Whittaker, 2015). The lack of values can manifest within organizations, both by the

employees and their leaders. In particular, when a leader's behaviors fail to show their

commitment to morality, there is a potential for illegal business transactions and a disregard for

an employee’s rights (Schein & Schein, 2018). Social learning theory suggests that employees

within an organization learn appropriate behavior from the behavior and norms observed through

a credible source, or a leader within an organization (Cheng et al., 2019). One can reasonably

conclude that the absence of values demonstrated by leaders in an organization can lead to

observed negative behavior, these behaviors include an employee’s willingness to steal from the

company and customers, taking shortcuts in their execution of tasks, and engaging in other

practices that contradict the company policy and rules. Internal moral perspective is interpreted

as the self-regulatory process in which leaders use their inner moral values and standards to

guide their behaviors as opposed to succumbing to external pressure that may control their

35

actions and judgment, the absence of an internalized moral perspective undermines the

authenticity of leadership in an organization (Wei et al., 2018). Qureshi and Hassan (2019)

emphasized the significance of the self-regulatory element of authentic leadership by arguing

that individuals can control the magnitude to which they accept the influence of others on their

practices. The resilience of some individuals to the influence of a leader does not diminish the

overall impact of a leader with a reduced internal moral perspective and their tendency to act in

ways that are inconsistent with the morals and beliefs that they express, which may adversely

impact the organization's values.

Authentic leadership within an organization is also determined based on the level of

balanced processing demonstrated by leaders throughout the same organization or institution

(Iszatt-White & Kempster, 2019). Therefore, the low levels of authentic leadership that are

evident in modern leadership may involve leaders that are biased and openly give preferential

treatment to different employees on various personal or group issues (Qu et al., 2019). Such

leaders practice imbalanced processing by failing to solicit viewpoints from all of their followers,

mainly those they believe would provide contradicting opinions to what they propose. As a

result, the unauthentic, autocratic, or transactional leaders tend to expect followers to agree with,

accept, and comply with the leader’s opinions or direction in exchange for such items as

gratitude, monetary reward, organizational resources, and even, in some cases, to avoid

punishment (Masa'deh et al., 2016). Qureshi and Hassan (2019) noted that the importance of the

idea that authenticity should be reinforced by openness on a personal perspective level without

losing sight of the objectives of the business and organizations when accommodating others’

views. Authentic leaders strive to keep an open mind to all possible solutions and actions in

order to be fair-minded and lead others to make similar open-minded decisions to promote the

36

best possible outcome (Duberman, 2015). Scholars can view authenticity in modern businesses

through the relationship between constructive professionalism, personal relationships, and

between the connectedness between leaders and their followers. This concept is supported by

Blekkingh (2015), who suggested that some leaders in modern organizations elevate and isolate

themselves from their followers to demonstrate that they occupy a superior position with a higher

degree of power than their followers. Scholars have associated such behaviors with incompetent

and insecure leaders, who are desperate to instill fear and coerce loyalty to retain their authority

in the organization (Schein & Schein, 2018). These non-authentic leaders are unwilling to share

ideas and experiences with their peers and followers, as well as fail to establish connections with

employees.

Relational transparency involves presenting oneself to followers and colleagues openly

and honestly, which appears inconsistent with the self-regulation that is demonstrated by leaders

when they control their openness with others (Stajkovic et al., 2015). Through the self-regulation

processes, resources are evaluated, distributed, and adjusted as needed based on the activity and

demands (Stajkovic et al., 2015). Iszatt-White-White and Kempster (2019) conveyed that

relational transparency occurs when leaders make deliberate moves to share their sincere

feelings, part of which is their inclinations and emotions with others appropriately. Accordingly,

both the negative and positive aspects of self should be expressed by individuals through open

communication that is characterized by the ability and courage to be genuine and real when

interacting with the followers and peers (Iszatt-White & Kempster, 2019). The leader reveals low

authenticity through their secrecy about impending business changes or the thoughts and

motivations behind such changes. Authentic leaders often talk to their followers about their

work, personal and professional hardships and successes, and their perspective of professional

37

growth and development (Wei et al., 2018). At the same time, authentic leaders listen to their

followers empathically and keenly when they talk about their lives. Because of the relational

transparency with employees, authentic leaders earn genuine respect from their followers and

enable the followers to connect with the leader’s values, beliefs, goals, and activities over time

and become more committed to their development and the organization (Mehmood et al., 2016).

Similar to self-regulation, as described above, self-discipline is another prominent

characteristic that authentic leaders and organizations must consider. Sandhu and Dastgeer

(2019) defined self-discipline as the ability to identify and focus on a particular goal and moving

forward to actualize the strategies that facilitate its attainment, setbacks, and resistance.

However, non-authentic leaders lack consistency in their planning, delegation, organization, and

coordination of business functions and duties and often are known for their reactive and rash

decisions to different situations, leading to unpredictability and inconsistencies in their

leadership practice (Qu et al., 2019). The leadership of such firms lack focus and are unable to

adjust to changing market and organizational factors (Wei et al., 2018). The implementation of

new processes in such organizations also becomes confusing and stressful for the employees

whose roles and responsibilities are less clear. According to Blekkingh (2015), employees are

often vulnerable to stressful and depressing conditions during their interactions with their leaders

and colleagues at the workplace, as well as when dealing with other life issues outside the

company. One could conclude that leaders with low levels of authenticity lack compassion for

followers in terms of their personal and professional lives.

Perspectives of Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership can be analyzed by scholars from multiple viewpoints, including

intrapersonal, interpersonal, and developmental perspectives (Northouse, 2016). From the

38

observations made by Wei et al. (2018), the intrapersonal point of view evaluates authentic

leadership based on what occurs within the leader, including such items as self-regulation, self-

conceptualization, and self-knowledge. Shamir and Eilam (2005) contended that the

intrapersonal perspective of authentic leadership rests heavily on the meanings that the specific

leader interprets from their life experiences. Shamir and Eilam (2005) further contended that

leaders derive three focuses from the leader's life experiences: self-knowledge, self-concept

clarity, and person-role merger. The life experiences not only provide clarity and pathway for

leaders to be authentic; they also provide followers a means of gathering knowledge about the

leader to reflect on their authenticity (Shamir & Eilam, 2005). Blekkingh (2015) agreed and

noted that the intrapersonal perspective of leadership underscores the life experiences of the

leader, as well as the meanings that they attach to their experiences, and that these components of

intrapersonal perspective are considered vital to the development of authenticity in leadership.

Dasborough et al. (2019) explained that the interpersonal perspective of authentic

leadership originates from the contacts, conversations, and discussions between a leader and a

follower, creating a very dependent relationship between the leader and follower related to the

effectiveness of leadership approach. Epitropaki et al. (2017) agreed and confirmed that there is a

growing body of leadership literature that has been focusing on the leader and follower

relationship, ranging from identity dynamics to process and development dynamics. Research

also suggests that identity threat is a topic of concern from the interpersonal level of authentic

leadership and has shown that these threats can cause a decreased level of performance, decrease

desire for leadership, change management sabotage, and non-conformance (Epitropaki et al.,

2017). Six typical identity threat responses can be seen by researchers when evaluating the

interpersonal perspective: concealment, derogation, importance change, meaning change,

39

identity deletion, and positive distinctiveness (Epitropaki et al., 2017). Authentic leadership is

deeply rooted in the concept that the leader's deep sense of knowing who they are and what they

stand for anchors them (Epitropaki et al., 2017), knowing the typical types of identity threat

response assist an individual with being authentic in their leadership.

Qureshi and Hassan (2019) asserted that the developmental perspective is the most

popular amongst current scholars and researchers and reflects characteristics that organizations

can nurture in individuals as opposed to those same characteristics being a fixed attribute within

a leader. Wei et al. (2018) agreed with the developmental approach and conceptualized authentic

leadership as a quality that is developed from and grounded within a leaders' positive

psychological attributes and their strong ethics. After a comprehensive analysis of the previous

research findings and review of elite interview responses from organizational managers, Qu et al.

(2019) concluded that authentic leadership is a leadership behavior pattern that promotes and

draws upon positive ethical climate and psychological capacities. Yadav and Dixit (2017) agreed

with the concept that authentic leadership is developed over a lifetime and concluded that

individuals have the potential to become authentic leaders through the learned experiences of

their lives and those individuals that have favorable characteristics such as self-discipline,

trustworthiness, optimism, resilience, and strong moral character. Yadav and Dixit (2017) also

presented the finding that there is more to authentic leadership than knowing oneself; the

individual must also develop leadership capabilities through experiences.

Positive Psychology Attributes of Authentic Leadership

The positive psychological capacities of authentic leadership have gained substantive

popularity over recent decades and include such items as resilience, optimism, confidence, and

hope (Lee et al., 2019). These concepts are drawn from the positive organizational behavior and

40

positive psychology fields and characterize an authentic leader using the positive psychological

attributes demonstrated by the individual (Qu et al., 2019).

Confidence or self-efficacy is a person’s personal belief that they can develop and create

success based on past experiences (Na-Nan & Sanamthong, 2019). An individual with a high

level of confidence is more likely to perform a task with the expectation that a good outcome

will result, and an individual with low confidence will have the opposite effect (Na-Nan &

Sanamthong, 2019). Qureshi and Hassan (2019) provided a simplistic viewpoint of confidence

and described as the belief that an individual is capable of accomplishing a particular task.

Numerous scholars and researchers have confirmed the notion that confident leaders have a

higher likelihood of becoming inclined towards or motivated by success and subsequently more

productive. Ali et al. (2018) found that there was a positive relationship between leadership self-

efficacy and leadership effectiveness when they researched 124 banking leaders and 344 of the

followers within the same organization. Leadership effectiveness was defined by Ali et al. (2018)

as the leader’s impact on the bottom line of the organization, the quality of the products or

services, and the overall effectiveness of the team when faced with challenges. Brender-Ilan and

Sheaffer’s (2019) findings supported this concept and concluded that self-efficacy, in general,

had a negative relationship with counterproductive work behavior. Brender-Ilan and Sheaffer

(2019) defined counterproductive work behavior as any intention or controllable behavior on the

part of an individual that could be perceived as opposed to legitimate organizational goals or

interests.

Scholars agree that emotions and decision-making are often interconnected (Huang et al.,

2019). Swanepoel et al. (2015) provided multiple definitions of hope that center the definition of

hope around the concept that it is needed to improve the quality of an individual’s life and

41

individuals with hope have a positive outlook on the potential future based on planning and

internal strength. Authentic leaders generally reflect hope in their actions because they have

definite goals and that they believe they can accomplish those same goals, their hope thereby

inspires their followers to trust and believe in their causes (Wei et al., 2018). At the same time,

optimism’s positive psychological capacity entails the cognitive processes of viewing situations

from a positive perspective and developing favorable expectations about the future; this allows

individuals to adapt effectively to change (Strauss et al., 2015). From the observations made by

Qu et al. (2019), leaders who demonstrate optimism are often positive and confident about their

capabilities and their achievable outcomes. There exists broad empirical support for the positive

function of hope and optimism, and these concepts have been shown to have positive outcomes

on performance across varying settings, including academic, athletic, health, and social

adjustment (Strauss et al., 2015).

Another vital positive psychology attribute of authentic leadership is resilience, which is

the leader's and organization's capacity to recover from and adjust to adversarial conditions at the

place of work, and this includes their ability to adapt to suffering and hardships (Iszatt-White &

Kempster, 2019). Accordingly, one can examine leadership practice in terms of the individual's

capability to bounce back after encountering challenging situations, drawing some strength from

the challenges, and growing increasingly resourceful as they overcome the obstacles and

frustrations in their organizations (Wei et al., 2018). Organizational resilience is enacted through

the coordinated practices of an organization's leaders and allows employees of the organization

to engage with one another actively, thereby utilizing the resources more effectively and have a

more adaptive response to the changing scenario (Barton & Kahn, 2019).

42

In addition to the four elements of positive psychological capabilities, authentic

leadership also demands moral reasoning and consideration for life events (Northouse, 2016).

One of the most influential theories on moral reasoning is Kohlberg's 1969 theory of moral

development, which suggests that an individual's self-perception or judgment of morally right or

wrong choices is defined by how the individual reasons about moral issues (Giurge et al., 2019).

Sandhu and Dastgeer (2019) agreed with this concept and define moral reasoning as a process

that enables organizational leaders to be selfless and enhances their ability to make decisions that

promote the greater interest of the group, company, or community, part of which is the

advancement of rightful things and justice for all. Giurge et al. (2019) explained that there are

three types of moral reasoners; pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Pre-

conventional moral reasoners are concerned with cause and effect type of actions associated with

their self-interest, this is contrary to the post-conventional moral reasoner who places the

collective well-being over their self-interest (Giurge et al., 2019). The conventional moral

reasoner can be viewed as interested in their self-interest but also obtaining general social

approval (Giurge et al., 2019). In conjunction with moral reasoning, critical life events can be

viewed by researchers as either negative or positive significant events, which shape an

individual's life, thereby acting as potential catalysts in their personal growth process (Iszatt-

White & Kempster, 2019). There is a general agreement among scholars that life experiences

have a significant impact on the leaders' performances; this is particularly true for authentic

leadership because of the dependence on the understating of personal life experiences (Lee et al.,

2019). When leaders acknowledge and appreciate their moral reasoning and personal life

experiences, they demonstrate a higher level of authenticity in their behaviors and practices.

43

Authentic Leadership in Local Government

Leadership within local government differs significantly from that of the corporate sector

and other public sectors due to unique characteristics, expectations, and competition within the

units of governance (Reffo & Wark, 2014). At the corporate level, authentic leadership is a

concept that has gained immense popularity recently because of the disturbing behaviors

portrayed by unethical leaders at these organizations, which include greed and unethical conduct

(Johnsen, 2018). Unlike the private corporate sectors, local government leadership requires

exceptional skills and motivation, given that welfare, regardless of the provider of services, and

building the society trust are the leaders’ primary objectives (Qureshi & Hassan, 2019). For

instance, whereas the leaders in the private sector are led by well-defined corporate goals and

objectives, with their most significant concern being the ability to generate the desired revenues

and organizational competitiveness, the government leaders have to formulate their mission

statements and government goals, which accommodate the diverse and occasionally contrasting

needs of their electorates (Iszatt-White & Kempster, 2019). Do Monte (2017) agreed with the

difference in the public and private sector; however, conveys that the primary difference between

the two is that the private sector tends to have a higher level of compensation and level of effort

compared to the public sector that tends to have a higher level of job security.

The public sector, government included, has seen a significant reoccurrence of conflicts

and crises that have called into question the capability of leaders to adequately respond and lead

during these challenging times (Kellis & Ran, 2013). Kellis and Ran (2013) defined the three

tenets of public sector leaders as the leader being authentic, the leader focusing on the follower's

development, and that the leader must be able to navigate the extensive public sector

organizational network. Landesz's (2018) research supports the first tenet and through the

44

observations regarding authentic leadership theory, it was found by the researcher that

authenticity demands leadership qualities that involve demonstration of trustworthiness and

authenticity. Many sources remind government leaders of the fact that their supporters will

always be aware of their mischief or misdeeds whenever they deviate from their beliefs (Iszatt-

White & Kempster, 2019). Klein and Robison (2019) conveyed that social media platforms have

enabled the public to quickly determine when a public sector leaders’ personality become

inconsistent with what the supporters consider to be truthful and that the government leaders

inevitably lose the trust invested in them. According to Reffo and Wark (2014), leaders take risks

on certain occasions to abide by the values for which they stand. One can reasonably conclude

from the available literature that just like leaders in the private sectors, public sector leaders must

demonstrate their strong leadership skills by taking risks without undermining their stated values

and beliefs from the perspective of their stakeholders, the general public.

Modern society settings are experiencing a continuous evolution of trends, most of which

require constant open dialogue and social intelligence, which are further promoted by the

increasing prominence of social media at the private, public, and individual levels (Qureshi &

Hassan, 2019). Klein and Robison (2019) hypothesized that the increase in social media has

begun to polarize the evaluation of government and that individuals tend to align themselves

with others of similar predispositions; this often increases negative attitudes and evaluations of

the public sector. Klein and Robison's (2019) hypothesis and supporting data suggest that

citizens yearn for leaders that can navigate through the trends and engage them in unchartered

territories, as well as demonstrate their values and vision to energize and create meanings for

people working in their government organizations and citizens in general. Schein and Schein

(2018) further defined the level of authenticity in local government and establish that the low

45

levels of authenticity in local government is occasioned by the inability of the leaders to combine

their strong vision with a passion for the creation of governments of the future, a failure to foster

a sustainable vision, a failure to collaborate effectively, and a failure to establish trust within

society.

Authentic leaders in local governments have a hugely diverse group of stakeholders

within the community and organizations that they serve; anyone can ascertain this fact by merely

looking at the demographics across the United States. These leaders are under constant pressure

to ensure that the public services provided are adequate and match the expected standards of the

citizens, which is an important dimension similar to that taken by private sector leaders when

addressing their consumer needs (Iszatt-White & Kempster, 2019). According to Qu et al.

(2019), the local government leaders must genuinely understand the responsibility of their

government as a platform for solidifying, which includes balancing between legal and human

rights that touch on the people. Authenticity promotes positive forms of leadership that are

required to develop trust and positive work environments for employees and increase job

performance and lower attrition rates (Azanza et al., 2015).

Society entrepreneurship is another aspect of leadership that demonstrates

competitiveness and authenticity among local government leaders. Social entrepreneurship is a

unique form of motivation that incorporates more traditional methods of leading to confront

pressing social and economic issues such as poverty, empowerment of women, social

transformation, foster growth in marketplaces, and bring about institutional change (Saebi et al.,

2019). Lee et al. (2019) found a lack of clear and compassionate missions for the low levels of

authenticity in the modern local governance. The lack of compassionate mission or vision is

indicated in most cases by the fact that the unauthentic leaders do not have dreams or visions that

46

energize, inspire, and move people, or they may simply lack goodwill and commitment to their

proclaimed values and beliefs (Qu et al., 2019). Authentic leaders utilize the relationship

between the leader and follower to improve the organizational functionality and improve

society’s issues through the leader's influence of the follower, to such extents as fulfilling

promises, adhering to their true self/convictions and abiding by their mission and goals (Ford &

Harding, 2011).

Local government leaders also demonstrate their competencies by acknowledging that

their authentic selves should not be static, these leaders have to be free and willing to learn,

interact, evolve, and create new experiences (Schein & Schein, 2018). The citizens' expectations

and needs are continually changing, thus becoming more demanding. The challenges of today

include such items as globalization, rapid technological advances, social unrest, political unrest,

and public mistrust over misconduct (Iszatt-White & Kempster, 2019). The financial and

economic crisis of 2007 and 2008 had a significant impact on local governments around the

world, which resulted in a decrease in revenue and an increase in expenses (Ladner & Soguel,

2015). Local governments are often asked by citizens to retain their level of services with

reduced incomes or risk going into reserves or further debt until the economy stabilizes (Ladner

& Soguel, 2015). This conflict represents a crisis point for leaders, especially authentic leaders

that strive to be true to themselves and their followers.

Another essential element that needs to be considered by scholars when discussing

authentic leadership is pseudo-authenticity, which involves decoupling between self-regulatory

and self-awareness processes when serving the target population (Landesz, 2018). According to

Landesz (2018), the distinction between authentic and pseudo-authentic leaders center around the

fundamental difference in the consistent behaviors of the leader, which should be guided by their

47

true active self as authentic leaders and not when acting in a pseudo-authentic manner. In this

case, pseudo-authenticity local leaders may show some dysfunctional cognitive disequilibrium,

which manifests in their low self-esteem, negativity, distorted self-schema, and incongruent

behaviors (Iszatt-White & Kempster, 2019). At the same time, the pseudo-authentic leaders

behave inconsistently by decoupling from their working self-concept because of their inability to

attain self-concept clarity or lack of commitment to their leadership cause (Iszatt-White &

Kempster, 2019).

Overview of the Concept of Confidence in Leadership and Trust

Scholars continue to examine leadership self-confidence, and there exist multiple

leadership theories that attempt to examine and explain the concept, including the recent and

highly popular transformational leadership theory and several others (Fu et al., 2016). Fu et al.

(2016) explained that scholars typically break leadership confidence into two major broad areas,

self-confidence, and confidence in followers. Confidence can be further examined and broken

into four levels: self-confidence, which creates an environment for high expectations on a

personal level; dyadic confidence, which represents the shared faith between two parties and

improves positive engagement; organizational confidence, the belief that the existing

organizational structure will hold individuals accountable, maintain fairness, and foster

collaboration within the organization; and external confidence, the belief that resources will be

available to complete tasks (Fu et al., 2016). Martins et al. (2018) generally agreed with the

concept of self-confidence and rationalize that an individual’s self-perception of their abilities

impacts the perception of the same individual’s ability to meet goals and objectives. Individuals

that do not have a high self-confidence are therefore less likely to be effective in achieving their

goals and subsequently will have a fear of failure; this fear results in anxiety and predisposition

48

to avoid the risk that could result in said failure (Martins et al., 2018). Asano et al. (2016) agreed

with the value of dyadic confidence and contend that individuals seeking to develop a healthy

relationship and confidence with one another must accept the other individual, have open

communication about life events, and contribute significant resources to the relationship. Asano

et al. (2016) further established that there are levels of conceptualization related to this concept:

the individual's ability to impact the shared objectives, the individual's expectation on the ability

of the team to impact the shared objectives, and the shared viewpoint of the team to achieve the

desired outcome. The second level of confidence is closely related to the third level,

organizational confidence, but on a larger scale. Feeney and Boardman (2011) contended that

organizational confidence is composed of three simplistic statements that an individual can

pounder about their respective organization: (a) the organization has high ethical standards, (b)

the overall quality of work being done by employees is excellent, and (c) there is a sense of pride

working for the organization. When an individual has confidence in their organization, they are

more likely to develop a sense of devotion to the same organization and exhibit positive

organizational behaviors (Feeney & Boardman, 2011). The last level of confidence, external

confidence can be rationalized through the concept of scarcity. Research suggests that as

resources are reduced by any means within a community or organization and scarcity increases,

the behaviors of the individuals change and promote behaviors that are beneficial solely towards

the individual and at the determent of others or the community (Roux et al., 2015). Research

examples of this phenomenon demonstrate the level of trust and confidence that individuals have

when resources are scarce, the findings suggest that individuals within resource-limited

neighborhoods tended to engage in less altruistic behaviors and focus primarily on their own

needs (Roux et al., 2015).

49

Similar to confidence, trust is an essential concept for researchers to understand, and

individuals can further examine the concept through two lenses: calculated trust and relational

trust (Poppo et al., 2016). Calculated trust can be defined as the belief that an individual knows

where they stand when there is a system of rewards and penalties in place that are enforced by

leaders (Poppo et al., 2016). Individuals can define relational trust as an individual's ability to

understand another's perspective over time through social relations and understands or can

anticipate the other individual's preferences and priorities (Poppo et al., 2016). Recent literature

remains fragmented on which perspective of trust is correct; however, relational trust is

acknowledged by researchers as being more anchored in sociological and psychological thinking,

and research appears to give primacy to relational trust over the calculated trust (Schilke &

Cook, 2015). Schilke and Cook (2015) suggested that all business interactions utilize both forms

of trust, calculated and relational trust and that on an aggregate level, researchers agree that all

trust is generally associated with positive outcomes. The results of the research conducted by

Schilke and Cook (2015) found that calculative trust has a stronger impact than relational trust,

suggesting that developing stronger policies and incentives may be of higher value to leaders and

organizations. Schilke and Cook (2015) also found that relational trust had a higher impact on

performance, reinforcing the benefit of utilizing both forms of trust within an organization. Wise

(2016) built on the concept of trust and suggests that cognitive-based trust, personality-based

trust, and institutional-based trust form the collective measurement of trust that can be evaluated

by individuals. Institutional based trust is based on equity, this concept of trust can be evaluated

based on how an individual perceives that the institution treats them when they compare

themselves to others that experience similar events (Wise, 2016). Personality based trust can be

defined as trust that is learned through the experience gained through relationships and

50

experiences (e.g., a person may learn to be distrusting of individuals that exhibit similar

characteristic to someone that was untrustworthy in the past: Wise, 2016). Cognitive or

cognition-based trust is a trust that is grounded by an individual's logical or rational evaluation of

information and can be seen when individuals evaluate other individuals based on the ability to

trust them based on rational reason or evidence (Wang et al., 2016).

Existing literature suggests that integrity is another crucial component to building trust

and that integrity is universally linked to value-based concepts such as ethics, honesty, and

morality (Krylova et al., 2017). Subsequently, there are generally five concepts that identify with

integrity in the existing literature; those are wholeness, consistency of words and actions,

consistency in adversity, being true to oneself, and general moral or ethical behavior (Krylova et

al., 2017). Existing research also suggests that integrity-based causes to the loss in trust of an

individual are more challenging to repair than competence-based causes to the loss in trust;

furthermore, integrity-based trust loss is almost impossible to repair entirely when loss (Krylova

et al., 2017). A significant component of evaluating the impact of moral character and the

decision to trust the moral judgment of an individual is the individual's actions and the inherent

beliefs or desires that cause those actions to take place (Cushman, 2015). Tomaževič and

Aristovnik (2019) found that individuals inherently are trusting of other individuals and that

employees and leaders express this same relationship. The outcome associated with the loss of

trust or moral judgment is also highly dependent on the outcome or severity of the actions caused

by the individual (Cushman, 2015). Tomaževič and Aristovnik (2019) agreed with the concept of

severity of action with loss of trust and also suggested that the level of trust at the point of

betrayal or perceived betrayal has a major impact on the amount of trust lost. The level of trust at

the point of trust being lost can significantly impact the possibility of repairing the lost trust to

51

the level of trust that was previously held between two individuals or an employee and

supervisor.

Bachmann et al. (2015) examined the loss of trust on an organizational and institutional

level and conclude that there is no single fix for restoring lost trust; however, there are six critical

mechanisms that can assist with rebuilding lost trust. The six key mechanisms for repairing and

restoring trust on an organizational level are sense-making, relational, regulations and control,

ethical culture, transparency, and transference (Bachmann et al., 2015). Sverdrup and Stensaker

(2018) disagreed and contended that there are three stages involved with trust repair that the

stages share some similarities and have some differences from the six previous mechanisms:

restoring reciprocity, renegotiating the psychological contract, and extending the psychological

contract. Restoring reciprocity consists of making an offering to the other party, typically this is

seen as the leader making an offering to the employee, to show that previous acts that caused the

violation of trust will be corrected and often new leadership is brought in by an organization to

assist with this process (Sverdrup & Stensaker, 2018). This stage in the process is very similar to

the sense-making mechanism identified by Bachmann et al. (2015). Renegotiating the

psychological contract is a complex process that establishes the rules and expectations for future

collaborations between individuals within the organization (Sverdrup & Stensaker, 2018). When

compared to the six mechanisms, this stage resembles closely to the regulation and control

mechanism and has some components of transparency mechanism. The last stage of extending

the psychological contract consist of strengthening the relational bond between the parties

through the use of informal interactions and communications that are more on a personal level

than on a professional level (Sverdrup & Stensaker, 2018). When examined against the six

mechanisms, the third stage clearly aligns with the relational mechanism.

52

The current business environment continues to evolve due to new technological

advances, which has resulted in a change in the dynamic of the employee to leader trust

relationship (Guinalíu & Jordán, 2016). Zhu and Lee (2017) rationalized that traditional

leadership is not effective in the virtual environment and that trust-building among team

members results in a leadership dynamic that has a central theme of shared leadership. Ford et al.

(2017) agreed that virtual teams are developing more and defined virtual teams as a group of two

or more geographically or organizationally dispersed individuals who coordinated work demands

through a combination of telecommunication technologies. Guinalíu and Jordán (2016) agreed

with both of the above statements; they suggest that these changes in the business environment

have also resulted in increased flexibility with operations but have also created a different

environment with how organizations manage virtual teams and subsequently the trust dynamic.

Zhu and Lee (2017) suggested that employees that are engaging in virtual teams or working from

a virtual work environment are inherently more likely to get confused or misunderstood by other

workers or their leader, thereby impacting the overall trust between individuals in leadership and

team roles. Zhu and Lee (2017) further suggested that establishing a high level of trust is an

effective means of decreasing communication costs and the overall need to monitor employees

closely; this typically results in a higher level of job satisfaction and job performance related to

personal and professional goals.

Zak (2018) agreed with the overall importance of trust within an organization, the

research conducted by their research team determined that the chemical oxytocin reduce the

overall fear of trusting. In addition, research determined that stress is a high oxytocin inhibitor

and that oxytocin increases a person’s ability to empathize (Zak, 2018). Zak (2018) established

eight means of building trust between a leader and follower based on the findings: recognize

53

excellence, induce challenge stress, give people discretion on how they work, enable job

crafting, share information broadly, intentionally build relationships, facilitate whole-person

growth, and show vulnerability. Gjoneska et al. (2019) disagreed with the complexity of trust

and suggested that individuals rely primarily on trust when relating to other individuals and that

behavioral and neural evidence suggests that trustworthiness evaluation of individuals are made

quickly, within 100ms, and those evaluations are done automatically without thought. Gjoneska

et al. (2019) also rationalized that situational factors can impact trust for individuals; however,

individuals tend to form bonds with others with similar characteristics and that this creates strong

group bonds that can both have a negative and positive impact on trust.

Variables in the Study

The research study used validated and reliable measures to assess the two variables under

investigation. The independent variable, authentic leadership, was categorized into four separate

attributes, as defined by Northouse (2016): self-awareness, internalized moral perspective,

balanced processing, and relational transparency. This researcher categorized the dependent

variable, confidence in leadership, into two aspects: self-perceived and follower perceived.

Summary of the Literature Review

Leadership theories continue to evolve as scholars and organizations seek to improve on

their employees' and organization's performance. The Great Man theory was one of the first

leadership theories that focused on examining the characteristics that improved performance and

suggested that individuals were born with leadership qualities that contributed to the excellence

of the leader. As time progressed, different theories evolved, suggesting that individuals could

develop leadership traits and that behavior or situational attributes contributed to leadership

excellence. Most recently, literature has focused on ethical leadership characteristics due to high

54

profile corporate scandals and mistrust. Authentic leadership has emerged as a topic of interest to

assist organizations and leaders to regain confidence and trust internally and externally to their

respective organizations. Similar external pressure has been exerted by society on local

governments, which despite not being profit-oriented establishments, serve a population with

high social, economic, political, and cultural expectations, authentic leadership is positioned to

fulfill these societal needs. Authentic leadership focuses on four primary characteristics of

leaders: self-awareness, internal moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational

transparency. When leaders have a high function in these four characteristics of authentic

leadership, they are viewed by followers as "real and genuine," and several positive psychology

attributes emerge, including self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism. In conjunction with the

four identified positive psychology attributes, moral reasoning surfaces as another critical

attribute, and contributing reason why authentic leadership is relevant in today's ethically aware

society. Authentic leadership theory builds on the learned experience from the leader's life to

incorporate three perspectives into authentic leadership development the intrapersonal

perspective, the interpersonal perspective, and the developmental perspective.

Literature suggests that followers and society desire authentic and ethical leadership.

When leaders do not exhibit these behaviors or ignore them, trust is lost, and confidence in

leadership is lost. Once trust is lost, it is often hard to reestablish. Although trust and confidence

are challenging to restore, they both are not impossible to restore and can be repaired by

individuals through the dedicated efforts of leaders within the impacted organization. Research

has also shown that high levels of trust result in overall higher levels of job satisfaction, which

researchers have seen through brain chemistry, and that leaders can impact trust levels of

followers through their positive or negative actions. Emerging trends in the business industry

55

also show that work environments and teams are evolving, and with that evolution, the trust

dynamic between leaders and followers is changing to need a higher level of trust. As more and

more organizations incorporate technology into their business, the emphasis that those same

organizations place on authentic leadership and trust need to be considered by leaders within the

organization and evaluated more closely.

Transition and Summary of Section 1

The research examines the impact that authentic leadership plays in local government

with regards to the overall confidence employees have with leaders that exhibit authentic

leadership traits. The research seeks to examine local government leaders across two variables

further, authentic leadership, and confidence in leadership. This researcher examines authentic

leadership across four primary factors: balanced processing, internalized moral perspective,

relational-transparency, and self-awareness. Confidence in leadership was further evaluated by

the researcher from the perspective of both the follower and leader to obtain a better

understanding between authentic leadership and confidence or trust in leadership. To accomplish

the goal of the research, the researcher seeks to answer the research questions “To what extent, if

any, is there a relationship between authentic leadership and confidence in overall organizational

leadership within local government?” and “To what extent, if any, is there a difference in the

relationship between authentic leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership

between direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within local government?”

Current research and literature on leadership ranges greatly from the Great Man theory of

leadership to the more recent transformational leadership and even more recent authentic

leadership theory. Existing leadership literature suggests that original leadership research has

focused primarily on the leaders of the past and how present and future leaders could emulate

56

those traits or behavior characteristics to become better leaders themselves. Recent scandals in

both the public and private sectors have changed the perspective of what is needed for effective

leadership. Authentic leadership theory has subsequently emerged as a leadership theory of

interest due to inherent need for more ethical based leadership. The research study seeks to build

on existing research that have established the positive psychology attributes of authentic

leadership (self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism) and the characteristics of authentic

leadership (self-awareness, internal moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational

transparency) and explore the relationship that authentic leadership has with confidence or trust

in leadership, both from the perspective of the leader themselves and the perspective of the

individuals that they seek to lead within their organization. The research study seeks to

strengthen existing research by expanding on concepts identified in the available research,

providing additional research that is empirical or practitioner in nature, and by providing

research that is directly related to the public sector.

57

Section 2: The Project

The first half of the project section of the research study provides the foundation for how

the researcher will conduct the study for the second phase of the dissertation process. The

research study focuses on authentic leadership and the relationship with confidence in leadership

within local government. The role of the researcher and how the researcher will access the

participants are discussed to provide a clear understanding of the responsibilities of the

researcher and typical procedures needed for effective research. The research approach for this

study is a quantitative research method that utilizes a non-experimental correlation design, the

rationale behind choosing these selections will be examined in detail to provide the reader a clear

understanding of the study’s method and design. The population being evaluated by this study is

the population of a medium to large size department within a local government, consisting of

approximately 302 employees. The researcher will utilize the ALQ and the LEQ as survey

instruments to examine the chosen population for the study, a review of both instruments,

permissions, and how the researcher will implement both are examined in detail by the

researcher.

The second half of the project section of the dissertation will consist of reviewing the

data collection process for the project. It will provide insight into the techniques used to collect

data, describe the systems utilized by the researcher to track, store, and secure the data for the

research project. Since this research study employs a quantitative method, a detailed discussion

of each variable will be provided by the researcher to include the data type, dependency, how

each of the variables relates to the research problem, research questions, and hypotheses. The

researcher will provide adequate descriptive statistics and statistical studies to determine the

58

quality and validity of the data to support the research conclusions. The final portion of the

project section will discuss the general reliability and validity of the study.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this quantitative, case study was to explore the relationship between

authentic leadership and the confidence that followers have for the same leadership within a

medium to large department of approximately 302 full-time employees within the chosen local

government, Chesterfield County, located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The significance of

the relationship between self- perceived leadership characteristics and follower-perceived

leadership characteristics was examined in detail to generate an increased understanding of

authentic leadership in the context of local government. The study used validated and reliable

measures to assess the variables under investigation. The independent variable, authentic

leadership, was categorized into four separate attributes, as defined by Northouse (2016): self-

awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency.

This researcher determined the value of the independent variable through the use of a

validated authentic leadership questionnaire that was provided by the researcher to

organizational leaders and followers within the chosen department of Chesterfield County. This

researcher categorized the dependent variable into two aspects: self-perceived and follower

perceived. The dependent variable, confidence in leadership, was defined as the overall

confidence an employee has in their organization, their department leadership, direct supervisors,

and indirect supervisors. This researcher determined the confidence level of leadership through

the use of the LEQ. The LEQ utilized the leadership self-efficacy scale to quantify leadership

confidence. Further reflection on the findings of this research could help organizations identify

key leadership attributes and characteristics, which could be potentially utilized to strengthen

59

local government leadership development and decrease the likelihood of low confidence in

organizational leadership.

Role of the Researcher

The researcher for this project has worked as a leader in the nuclear, water, or wastewater

field for over 16 years and holds an Associate of Science in Environmental Science and

Technology, a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology, a Master of Business

Administration, a Master of Science in Information Systems, and is currently in the process of

completing a Doctorate in Business Administration. The researcher has been trained through the

doctoral process and years of academic study in the skills necessary to carry out the designed

study. The researcher selected the survey instruments, ALQ and LEQ, to utilize for the research.

The researcher was solely responsible for the selection of eligible participants based on full-time

employment with the chosen department with no other selection requirements. The researcher is

very familiar with public speaking and interviewing; he has interviewed multiple people during

the hiring process, conducted workplace investigations, and been involved with numerous

speaking engagements related to supporting internal and external awareness of key initiatives.

Based on the background of the researcher, the researcher will provide an overview of the study

for each participant and answer questions asked about the research. The researcher will not

collect the data directly; this was done to ensure the confidentiality of responses. The researcher

reviewed the response rate from the provided survey instruments to determine if the desired

response rate of 170 individuals was met. The chosen response rate requirement provided a

confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 5 percent. The researcher conducted a

statistical analysis of the data to determine and report the findings of the research conducted.

60

Participants

The sample population was drawn from a population of local government employees who

worked for a medium to large department within the same local government. No minimum time

requirement of employment was established as a requirement to be eligible to participate. All

participants were required to be in a position that was classified as full-time, and there were also

no age or gender limitations established for the study. All participants had to be fluent in both

written and spoken English, but English was not required to be the native language. The current

professional role of the researcher is a member of the management team for the department

participating in the research. The director of the chosen department granted initial access to

participates, permission to conduct the research, and permission to request participation. There

existed a potential for sample bias due to the researcher working for the organization over

multiple years. Individuals that have worked with the researcher closely may have been more or

less likely to respond depending on past relationships and that relationship may have impact the

response rate for those individuals. The researcher chose to use unique identifiers instead of

names for participants and also utilize a separate administrative assistant to collect and record

responses into the research database to ensure participants were comfortable in responding

truthfully and also to limit the potential biases. The researcher scheduled time with each section

leader to provide background on the research prior to meeting with the potential participants. The

researcher also scheduled time to inform the potential participants of the same research and

provide the potential participants the selected surveys. Each potential participant had the

opportunity to voluntarily participate and ask any questions regarding the research to the

researcher. Once all questions were answered, the researcher removed himself from the room to

allow participants to respond. The administrative assistant provided the ALQ and LEQ surveys,

61

collected the completed questionnaires, and recorded the unique identifiers for each participant

that chose to participate in the research study, no names of respondents were directly provided to

the researcher. The same procedure was conducted for each section of the chosen department.

Research Method and Design

This researcher utilized a quantitative approach for the research study. In conjunction

with the quantitative approach, the researcher used a correlational design to establish a

significant relationship between the two variables of authentic leadership and confidence in

leadership. Both the method and design of the research were determined to be the most

appropriate based on the research problem, variables in the research, research questions, and

alignment with the purpose of the study.

Discussion of Method

There exist two very distinct traditional methods for research quantitative and qualitative;

these two methods can be compared to one another by how they view variables within the study

(Brannen, 2017). Brannen (2017) rationalized that historically the quantitative researcher defines

variables and links them together to form hypotheses that are tested by the data collected, while

the qualitative researcher defines very general concepts on which they seek to evaluate patterns

within the previous general or unspecified set of concepts. Kwadwo and Hamza (2015) agreed

and conveyed that the quantitative method approach uses a deductive approach that utilizes the

testing of theories or hypotheses. The variables for the research project, authentic leadership and

confidence in leadership, have been clearly defined within the first section of this dissertation.

The research study also formulates two null hypotheses from the variables and tests those same

hypotheses through data collection and analysis; therefore, the research study more clearly aligns

with the quantitative method approach.

62

The chosen method for a study should build a clear, in-depth understanding of existing

research, the gap in existing research, and how the research problem can address all three (Curry

& Nunez-Smith, 2015). Existing authentic leadership research has typically been prominently

theoretical; the research seeks to fill the gap in research by utilizing an empirical and practitioner

approach that aligns with numerical evaluation found in quantitative methods. The purpose of the

study was to explore the relationship between authentic leadership and the confidence that

followers have for the same leadership, these variables and concepts are well defined in existing

literature (Bobbio & Manganelli, 2009; Walumbwa et al., 2008). Kwadwo and Hamza (2015)

communicated that the quantitative method approach involves data analysis that identifies the

statistical relationship among variables. Ang (2014) agreed and imparted that the quantitative

method approach involves significant amounts of data and has a fundamental need to generate

statistically proven findings. Ang (2014) further conveyed that the quantitative approach

amalgamates well when there are large amounts of data available or readily accessible and when

theories are well established or can be adapted easily. The chosen research utilized a large

amount of data through the use of the ALQ and LEQ questionnaires, sought to establish if there

exists a statistical relationship between authentic leadership and leadership confidence, and

encompasses an established theory, authentic leadership theory.

Discussion of Design

The quantitative research method has three primary types of designs that need to be

considered by researchers: experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlation design types

(Borbasi & Jackson, 2015). Kwadwo and Hamza (2015) conveyed that the quantitative approach

typically has a final report that contains critical statistical information, which includes

correlations, comparisons of means, and reporting of statistical significance of findings. Based

63

on the chosen method and alignment with research purpose, this researcher chose to use a non-

experimental correlational design as the most appropriate design for the research. The research

sought to determine if a significant relationship exists between the two variables of authentic

leadership and confidence in leadership that were established in the problem statement and

purpose of the research. The correlational research design is a form of research, where the

researcher measures two variables to gather a better understanding of the statistical relationship

between the same two variables in the absence of any extraneous variables (Curtis et al., 2016),

as such the chosen design is in alignment with the research problem and purpose. The

correlational design does not seek to establish causality but examines the patterns of correlation

between two variables and the strength of those same relationships (Curtis et al., 2016). Seeram

(2019) agreed and expressed that a correlational design is a research design that allows the

prediction and explanation of relationships between variables. The research purpose sought to

explore the relationship between authentic leadership and leadership confidence, determine the

strength of those relationships, and infer any findings for organizations and researchers alike.

Seeram (2019) expressed that the key features of a correlational design included the correlation

between multiple variables, collecting data at a singular point in time, using values for the

variables that are on a continuum, and using statistical evaluations in the report of findings. The

research study met all of the requirements of correlational design due to the two variables, the

scale on the questionnaires, and the statistical evaluation of the research.

This researcher determined that the experimental, correlational design was not an

appropriate correlational design for this research study and that a non-experimental design was

the most appropriate design. For an experimental, correlational design to be suitable, researchers

establish control and experimental groups with random assignment of participants to each group

64

(Crane et al., 2017). Although conditions exist for a correlation design, as defined above,

conditions did not exist for an experimental correlation design. The non-experimental design was

also chosen due to the difficultly with establishing multiple groups within the confines of time,

due to the duration needed to develop both confidence and leadership with multiple groups,

including the control group.

Summary of Research Methods and Design

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to explore the relationship between

authentic leadership and the confidence that followers have for the same leadership within local

government. The chosen research method and design were established as effective and

appropriate to explore the general research problem of low levels of authentic leadership in

business and the lower confidence in organizational leadership. The general problem was

examined through the context of local government by evaluating the statistical significance

between two variables, authentic leadership and confidence in leadership. The qualitative and

mixed-method approach to research was determined to be less appropriate when compared to the

quantitative method approach. The researcher considered three initial designs for the research

study: experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlation design. The correlation design was

determined to be the most appropriate due to the clear variable established and desire to explore

the relationship between the same two variables in a non-experimental environment.

Population and Sampling

Discussion of Population

Approximately 3,509 individuals are employed in a full-time capacity for the local

government of Chesterfield County, Virginia, including general governmental administrative,

social services, public safety, parks, and utility positions (Chesterfield County, 2019). While this

65

author’s preference would have been to utilize the entire chosen government as the population

for this study, the process of contacting local government employees through their department

directors would have been prohibitively time-consuming. It would also have increased the

potential for limited access to non-respondents. Therefore, the Chesterfield County Department

of Utilities was contacted by the researcher to request permission to survey a sample of the

departmental employees for the study. The researcher subsequently received a verbal agreement

of participation from the director of the department and other members of the departmental

management team.

The Chesterfield County Department of Utilities consists of approximately 302 full-time

employees with different functions, including accountants, clerical staff, field operations,

engineers, laboratory, equipment operators, plant operators, and technology-based positions

needed to maintain affordable rates and a continuously stable financial position (Chesterfield

Utilities, 2019). Only current full-time employees from Chesterfield County Department of

Utilities were include as part of the population of the study. The departmental director was

selected as the point of contact with scheduling a systematic survey of the full-time employees

within the department.

Discussion of Sampling

The simplest method for determining the sample population is through the use of a

sample population calculator with defined values for the confidence level and the confidence

interval. Commonly used confidence levels for research are 90%, 95%, and 99%, the standard

being 95% (Salkind, 2010). The margin of error that is generally accepted for survey research

that allows for findings to be generalized by the population is between five and ten percent

(Suresh & Chandrashekara, 2012). Based on the above criteria, this researcher determined that

66

the sample size, for a confidence level of 95 percent and a confidence interval of 5 percent for

the study's population of 302, needs to be approximately 170.

The sampling method chosen was a purposive sampling method, specifically total

population sampling. Purposive sampling methods are a type of nonprobability sampling

techniques that facilitates a researcher’s ability to choose a sample population from the known

population (Etikan et al., 2016). For the purpose of this research the sampling frame was the

entire population. Based on the researcher’s knowledge of the typical response rate for voluntary

surveys provided to employees within the chosen local government, response rates are typically

slightly above the 56.1 percent needed to establish a 95 percent confidence level with a 5 percent

confidence interval; the researcher conducted in-person surveys to increase the response rate

above the typical historical rate. Reducing the sample size below the total population could result

in a condition of a smaller sample size and lower reliability. Researchers should take caution

against using small sample sizes, as it could reduce the reliability of a survey's results and may

also create bias in the results (Lin, 2018). Typical research response rates of 60 percent should be

the goal of researchers with an ideal response rate of over 80 percent (Fincham, 2008). A 60

percent response rate would result in 181 responses, above the identified sample size. An 80

percent response rate would result in 242 respondents, well above the needed 170. Researchers

should also allow for an additional 10 to 20 percent removal of participants to account for

missing data or withdrawals from the research (Suresh & Chandrashekara, 2012). The band of

the stated lost range would put the desired sample population between 162 and 218, the sample

population proposed for a 95 percent confidence level with a 5 percent confidence interval falls

within the additional lost range.

67

The researcher determined that the entire population needed to be sampled by the

researcher to meet the minimum threshold for a quality research study. The use of the total

population helped strengthen the generalizability of findings from the study by meeting the

above metrics. All full-time departmental employees were determined to be eligible to

participate in the study regardless of gender, race, age, educational background, or employment

history with the organization. The researcher intentionally excluded part-time employees from

the study due to the variability of each employee’s interactions with their supervisor; hours

worked varied highly, which could result in skewed data. The total population sample ensured

adequate representation of variables of the study, authentic leadership and leadership confidence,

throughout the entire population and not just one subset of the population. Demographics of the

sample population were provided based on position number within the organization.

Summary of Population and Sampling

The chosen population for the research was determined to be a medium to large

department, Utilities, within the local government of Chesterfield County. The population was

determined to consist of approximately 302 employees, ranging in job classifications and other

demographics. The researcher determined that a 95 percent confidence level with a 5 percent

confidence interval was required based on current research standards and that a purposeful

sampling method needed to be taken by the researcher. Additionally, the researcher determined

that a purposeful sampling method was the most appropriate, that the sample frame was the total

population, and that the only employees excluded from the study would be part-time employees.

The criteria established by the researcher ensured that the reliability of the study would not

adversely impact the findings and that the findings of the study would be able to generalize to the

defined population.

68

Data Collection

Instruments

For the purpose of this research study, the two instruments that were used by the

researcher were the ALQ and the LEQ questionnaires. The first instrument used in the study was

the ALQ. The ALQ has two forms, the self, and the rater form. For the purpose of this research,

both of the forms were used by the researcher, and all participating employees filled out the rater

form, and the participating supervisors filled out the self-form. The ALQ is a 16-question

instrument that has four components: self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral

perspective, and balanced processing (Avolio et al., 2009). The balanced processing construct

refers to one’s ability to objectively evaluate data before making critical decisions, while the

internalized moral perspective construct refers to an individual’s ability to self-regulate based on

their moral standards (Avolio et al., 2009). The relational transparency construct refers to one’s

ability to present their authentic self to others by opening sharing information in appropriate

situations, while the self-awareness construct refers to one’s ability to understand their own

strengths and weaknesses (Avolio et al., 2009).

The ALQ’s 16 questions are rated on a five-point ordinal scale from 0 to 4. Questions 1

through 5 are associated with relational transparency. Questions six through nine are related to

an internalized moral perspective. Questions 10 through 12 are associated with balanced

processing. Questions 13 through 16 are related to self-awareness. The inputs for the four

categories are averaged to determine the overall score for the four primary constructs. The higher

the overall score for each construct indicates that there is a higher level of alignment with

authentic leadership and the four individual constructs. For the purpose of this research, all four

construct scores were averaged. Walumbwa et al. (2008) conducted a confirmatory factor

69

analysis of the ALQ using two independent samples from a high-tech manufacturer in the United

States, sample population 224, and from a state-owned company from the People’s Republic of

China, sample population 212. It is understood by researchers that there is no one acceptable

limit that indicates an adequate fit (Cheung & Rensvold, 2002); however, a CFA value of .95 and

an RMSEA value of .06 or less is also accepted by researchers as an adequate fit (Hu & Bentler,

1999). A χ2/df ratio that is less than the value of 3.00 is considered a good fit (Kline, 2005).

Table 1 summarizes the confirmatory factor analysis conducted by Walumbwa et al. (2008) and

demonstrates the validity of the ALQ. Table 2 provides three of the 16 questions found on the

ALQ, only three sample items in the questionnaire were authorized for reproducing within the

research dissertation by the owner of the survey instrument.

Table 1

Confirmatory Factory Analysis of ALQ

Models χ2 df χ2/df ratio

CFI RMSEA

One Factor Model, US 356.78 102 3.50 0.91 0.11

First Order Factor Model, US 272.65 96 2.84 0.94 0.09

Second-Order Factor Model, US 234.70 98 2.39 0.97 0.05

One Factor Model, China 249.79 102 2.44 0.90 0.09

First Order Factor Model, China 208.71 96 2.17 0.93 0.08

Second-Order Factor Model, China 107.03 98 1.09 0.95 0.06

Note. Derived from Walumbwa et al. (2008)

70

Table 2

Sample ALQ

Item My Leaders is Scale 0-4 From Not at all to Always

1 Says exactly what they mean

6 Demonstrates beliefs that are consistent with actions

10 Solicits views that challenge their deeply held positions

Note. Derived from Walumbwa et al. (2008)

The second survey instrument used in this research study is the LEQ. Similar to the ALQ,

the LEQ has two different surveys, one for self-evaluation and one for external evaluation. The

LEQ consists of 22 questions that center around three constructs of leadership: leader action

efficacy, leader means efficacy and leader self-regulation efficacy. Items one through seven are

related to leader action efficacy, items 8 through 14 are related to the leader means efficacy, and

items 15 through 22 are related to leader self-regulation efficacy. Each question is rated from a

score of 0, no confidence, to a score of 100, complete confidence. The 100-point ordinal scale

produces a robust ordinal scale. The inputs for the three categories are averaged to determine the

overall score for the three primary constructs. The higher the overall score for each construct

indicates that there is a higher level of alignment with confidence in leadership efficacy and the

three individual constructs. For the purpose of this research, all three constructs' scores were

averaged.

The LEQ is based on two aspects of a leader’s efficacy: the leader’s confidence in their

abilities and the subordinate’s confidence in the leader’s ability to lead (Hannah et al., 2012).

Hannah et al. (2012) examined the discriminant validity and determined that there was adequate

support for discriminant validity. Evidence of discriminant validity is determined by evaluating

71

the results of several sets of the chi-square difference tests (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). The

first model allows the factors for consideration to be allowed to correlate and the second model

fixes the correlation at zero; if the chi-square is significantly lower in the second model, then

there is validity (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). Table 3 summarizes the chi-square results from

Hannah et al. (2012) and demonstrates that in all cases, the second model was significantly lower

than the first model. Table 4 provides sample questions from the LEQ.

Table 3

Validity Test for LEQ

Model N χ2 (1) χ2 (2) χ2 (3) χ2 (4) χ2 (5) χ2 (6)

First 265 1651.34 1352.11 1511.74 1188.73 1571.39 1046.87

Second 216 1708.28 1397.53 1679.88 1251.31 1768.55 1123.45

Difference N/A 56.94 45.42 168.14 62.58 197.16 76.58 Note. Derived from Hannah et al. (2012)

Table 4

Sample LEQ Questions

Item This leader displays a sense of confidence that they can Scale 0-100 From Not at all to Always Confident

1 Energize their followers to achieve their best

8 Rely on organization to provide the resources needed to be effective

16 Motivate themselves to take charge of their group

Note. Derived from Hannah et al. (2012)

Data Collection Techniques

The researcher conducted all data collection through the use of a site visit and paper

survey or virtual meeting. The researcher coordinated visiting each section with the chosen

department over several days. During the site visits or virtual meeting, the researcher described

72

the purpose of the research in great detail and provided the questionnaires. The researcher

created unique identifiers for each supervisor and participants within the department and

provided those to each participant. This technique allowed the participants to feel confident that

the survey results would remain anonymous. Upon completion of the survey, the researcher

exited, and the support personnel collected and recorded the responses. The researcher reviewed

the survey responses for errors and then evaluated data with statistical software.

At the time of the research there existed a high level of concern related to COVID-19,

which created a potential for the research to be impacted by reducing the availability of

participants for the study. The researcher provided two alternatives to the primary data collection

method, site visit and paper surveys. The first alternative was for the researcher to prerecord the

introductory presentation and provide the paper survey along with video, thereby promoting

social distancing. A majority of the department personnel that would be participating in the study

were classified as essential, which reduced availability and may have further reduced

participation rates. The second alternative was to conduct the survey through a virtual platform,

also promoting social distancing. At the time of the research study the chosen department had

access to Microsoft Teams, which allows video conferencing between members within an

organization. The video conferencing alternative were available for onsite essential staff;

however, were not available for nonessential staff that had self-quarantined in their homes.

Similar to alternative one, there was a concern that participation rates were decreased due to

availability of staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data Organization Techniques

The researcher proposed to retain two copies of the electronic data on two separate flash

drives that will be secured by the researcher in a locked cabinet in the researcher’s office along

73

with the survey documents for a period of five years. Each participant was assigned a unique

identifier and paired with their supervisor for data entry. The responses were inputted by the

support staff into an excel spreadsheet for ease of tracking and then by the researcher into the

statistical software. After the five-year period has expired, the researcher will destroy the data in

accordance with the data retention policy of the participating organization. The researcher will be

the only person with access to the research data throughout the research project, except for the

support staff that assisted with electronically inputting the survey results.

Data Analysis

This section of the research project provides details related to the data analysis techniques

that were used for the project. The researcher compared the mean scores from the ALQ and the

LEQ across the entire chosen medium to large local government department. In addition, the

ALQ and LEQ responses were compared by the researcher to determine the extent of correlation

between direct and indirect supervisors within the same department. The independent variable,

authentic leadership, and the dependent variable, leadership confidence were evaluated through a

correlational analysis and t-test. The researcher compared the mean scores for the independent

variable and dependent variable from the supervisor perspective and the subordinate perspective

to determine if there is a potential misalignment present. All statistical data were evaluated by

the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 25.

Variables Used in the Study

There were two variables used for this research study, authentic leadership and leadership

confidence. Authentic leadership was determined to be the independent variable and leadership

confidence was determined to be the dependent variable. The independent variable, authentic

leadership, was categorized into four separate attributes, as defined by Northouse (2016): self-

74

awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency. The

average score between each of the four categories were used as the authentic leadership variable

score for each respondent and was the primary means for evaluating the first hypothesis

identified for this study. This researcher categorized the dependent variable, leadership

confidence into two aspects: self-perceived and follower perceived. The average score between

the two categories was used to determine the score for the dependent variable of leadership

confidence for each respondent. In addition, the authentic leadership and leadership confidence

scores were coded against the direct and indirect supervisor demographic. For the purpose of this

study the indirect leadership demographic was considered the center manager of the employee

and the department management team member, employees filled out questions for each of these

types of leadership positions.

Theses variables were used to answer the first research question (to what extent, if any, is

there a relationship between authentic leadership and confidence in leadership in overall

organizational leadership within local government) and the second research question (to what

extent, if any, is there a difference in the relationship between authentic leadership assessment

scores and lower confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and indirect supervisors

within local government). To examine the first research question, both variables were utilized as

described above. To examine the second research question, the confidence in leadership variable

was examined across two groups, direct supervisors and indirect supervisors. To accomplish this

task the means of the two groups were compared, the indirect supervisors included the center

manager scores and the department management team member. This researcher determined that

the authentic leadership variable was appropriate to evaluate both research questions due to

current use in existing research. Ling et al. (2017) is one of many examples of existing research

75

were the variable of authentic leadership was evaluated through the use of the ALQ construct

created by Walumbwa et al. (2008). This research compared authentic leadership and servant

leadership to gauge which was more effective.

This researcher further evaluated the appropriateness of leadership confidence as a

variable through the construct of the LEQ. The LEQ construct evaluates across the perceived

capability of a leader to execute critical actions, the perceived ability to execute through complex

situations, and the overall effectiveness of a leader to utilize individuals to their full potential

(Hannah et al., 2012). Hackworth et al. (2018) agreed with these attributes of leadership

confidence in research and convey that the perception of self-confidence and self-efficacy in

leader are essential leader cognitions and are vital to confidence and leadership success. This

researcher determined that the variable of leadership confidence was appropriated and

substantiated by existing research.

In order to choose the most appropriate statistic tool to use, the variables must be

properly defined and categorized. Each variable in a research project is classified as a dependent

or independent variable, by the category of data produced (ordinal or normal), and if the data

produced will be normally distributed (Morgan et al., 2013). Ordinal variables are ordered from

low to high and have ranks assigned; however, the intervals between the categories are not equal

(Morgan et al., 2013), as such the authentic leadership variable is classified as an ordinal

variable. Morgan et al. (2013) conveyed that normal variables are also ordered; however, have

somewhat of a normal distribution between scores. The leadership confidence variable may be

classified as a normal variable once the normal distribution is confirmed by the statistical

software program and researcher; however, is considered an ordinal variable at this point in time.

76

Table 5 summarizes the variables for the research project and provides a quick reference on how

the variables were calculated from each instrument used in the study.

Table 5

Variables in Research

Variable Name Variable Type

Research Questions

Instrument Used How Variable is Calculated

Independent Variable: Authentic

Leadership

Ordinal 1 and 2

ALQ,

Questions 1-16

Average Score Between Leader and Subordinate Questionnaires, Research Question 1 and 2

Dependent Variable:

Leadership Confidence Ordinal 1 and 2

LEQ, Questions

1-22

Average Score for Supervisor and Indirect Supervisors, Research Question 1 Average Score for Supervisor and Mean Score for Indirect Supervisors, Research Question 2

Hypotheses 1

The first null hypothesis tested for this study was that there was no statistically significant

relationship between low authentic leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in overall

organizational leadership. For the purpose of evaluating this hypothesis, the authentic leadership

assessment scores were compared against the leadership confidence scores to determine if a

statistically significant relationship exists. The independent variable, authentic leadership and the

dependent variable, confidence in leadership are both at least ordinal and the variable scores are

assumed to be monotonically related to each other, therefore the Spearman correlational

coefficient was the most appropriate statistical tool to evaluate the hypothesis (Morgan et al.,

2013).

77

Hypotheses 2

The second null hypothesis tested for this study was that there was no statistically

significant difference in the relationship between authentic leadership assessment scores and

confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within local

government. For the purpose of evaluating this hypothesis the difference in mean authentic

leadership assessment and leadership confidence scores were compared for direct supervisor

against the difference between the authentic leadership and leadership confidence scores of

indirect supervisors. When comparing the difference between two unrelated groups, the t-test is

appropriate if the following assumptions are not violated: the variance of the dependent variable

of the two populations are equal, the dependent variable is normally distributed in each

population, and the scores are independent (Morgan et al., 2013). The researcher determined that

none of the assumptions were violated. The Levene’s test for equality of variances was used to

test the assumption of equal variance along with the t-test to evaluate the hypothesis (Morgan et

al., 2013).

Statistical Analysis

The Pearson correlation coefficient is typically used by researchers when evaluating

jointly normally distributed data (Schober et al., 2018). Ordinal data that are not normally

distribution or data that have relevant outliers is not appropriate for the Pearson correlation test,

instead a Spearman’s rank correlation can be used by researchers to measure the relationship

(Schober et al., 2018). Norman (2010) expressed that data that are reasonably distributed, such as

those in research surveys and questionnaires, can be utilized by both methods of determining

correlation and produce nearly identical values. Both the Pearson and Spearman’s rank

correlation coefficients are scaled from -1 to +1; the 0 value signifies no association and an

78

absolute value of one demonstrates a strong relationship, either linear for Pearson or curved for

Spearman’s rank (Schober et al., 2018). This researcher decided to use the Spearman’s rank

correlation coefficient to determine the degree of relationship between the two variables

authentic leadership and leadership confidence due to the potential for the normality assumption

to be violated if the data were skewed.

A t-test is a statistical test that is used to compare the means of two groups (Kim, 2015),

in the case of the research question the two groups were determined to be the direct supervisors

and indirect supervisors. The t-test is a parametric method where the researcher defines the

probability distribution and makes inference on the distribution (Kim, 2015). Salkind (2010)

agreed and confirmed that an independent samples t-test is a hypothesis test for determining if

the means of two independent groups are the same.

Summary of Data Analysis

This researcher analyzed the data generated from this research through the use of the

SPSS software package. The SPSS software package is widely used in quantitative research and

the researcher was familiar with the software package due to its use at Liberty University. The

researcher properly defined and categorized the dependent and independent variables for the

research as ordinal variable and used the Spearman correlation coefficient to determine statistical

significance between authentic leadership and confidence in leadership. In addition, the

researcher compared the mean authentic leadership scores with the mean leadership confidence

score of direct and indirect supervisors to determine if there was a significant difference between

those two groups. The hypotheses for the research were reviewed in conjunction with the

statistical analysis to ensure that they properly aligned with the research. The researcher

79

reviewed statistical methods and assumptions and determined that the analysis was in accordance

with typical research approaches.

Reliability and Validity

Assessment instruments in research must be reliable and valid, to accomplish this goal

each instrument must be examined against the reliability and validity for each assessment tool in

conjunction with the application of research to be credible (Sullivan, 2011). Reliability for

quantitative research can be defined as is the replicability of both the process performed by the

researcher and also the ability to produce the same results (Leung, 2015). Validity in research

refers to how accurately a concept is accurately measured, it consists of three items: content,

construct, and criterion validity (Heale & Twycross, 2015). Content validity measures the ability

to cover all the content that should be evaluated by the research tool, this is different than

construct validity that measures the ability of the tool to produce inferences from the scores

(Heale & Twycross, 2015). Criterion validity measures the extent that an instrument may be

related to another research instrument that measures the same variable (Heale & Twycross,

2015). The reliability and validity of the ALQ and LEQ are discussed in depth to provide a clear

understanding of the strength of those research tools.

Reliability

One way for a researcher to determine internal consistency reliability is for the same

researcher to utilize the Cronbach's coefficient alpha, this value is based on the average

correlation among the items and number of items in the same scale (Chau, 1999). Although there

is no one value that guarantees reliability the generally accepted values for preliminary research

are 0.7, 0.8 for basic research, and 0.9 for applied research (Chau, 1999). The Cronbach’s alpha

for the four measurements of the ALQ instrument were .92, .87, .76, and .81 for self-awareness,

80

relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing (Walumbwa et

al., 2008). The values obtained for the ALQ instrument fall within the 0.7 and 0.8 range and

would be appropriate for the research. The reliability of the LEQ was tested by Hannah et al.

(2012) through the use of multiple unique samples, the Cronbach’s alphas for leadership self and

means efficacy were .93 and .94. The values obtained for the LEQ instrument fall above the 0.9

value for applied research and would be appropriate for the research study.

Validity

As discussed, there are multiple forms of validity, the construct validity was previously

discussed in the instrument section of this dissertation through the use of confirmatory factor

analysis, or CFA and will be excluded from additional discussion. The second form of validity

discussed will be criterion validity or discriminant validity. Evidence of discriminant validity can

be seen by the extent that scores on different scales reflect different constructs (Campbell &

Fiske, 1959). Discriminant validity is determined by comparing the chi-square of the

unconstrained model with the second constrained model, if the unconstrained model is

significantly lower than the constrained then there is discriminant validity present (Anderson &

Gerbing, 1988). Walumbwa et al. (2008) completed this analysis for the ALQ and found that

when compared to ethical leadership and transformational leadership constructs the results met

that criteria. For ethical leadership the results were χ2(298) = 629.77 for the constrained model

and χ2(299) = 685.46 for the unconstrained; Δχ2 = 55.69, p < .01 (Walumbwa et al., 2008).

Walumbwa et al. (2008) completed the same analysis for transformational leadership and found

the unconstrained correlation was χ2(458) = 1107.02 and the constrained correlation was χ2(459)

= 1131.51; Δχ2 = 24, p < .01). Hannah et al. (2012) evaluated the discriminant validity for the

LEQ as it relates to other relevant constructs and found that all of the six chi-square comparisons

81

for the unconstrained model were significantly lower (p < .01) than the constrained model:

56.94, 45.42, and 168.14 as compared to 62.58, 197.16, and 76.58. The analysis determined that

the LEQ tool was distinct from the other three constructs of self-esteem, state hope, and general

self-efficacy.

Content validity is another validity that must be considered. Walumbwa et al. (2008)

originally derived 35 items for the ALQ and reduced that number to 22, a content validity

assessment was performed and determined that 80 percent of the time the categories were

properly assigned. The results of the content validity assessment resulted in 6 items being

removed from the ALQ, reducing the questionnaire to the current 16 questions (Walumbwa et

al., 2008). Similarly, the LEQ has been validated for contented validity with an interrater

consistency of between .77 and .94 (Hannah et al., 2012). Both the ALQ and the LEQ content

has been validated and accepted by multiple researchers since publication (Cervo et al., 2016;

Harper & Harper, 2016).

Summary of Reliability and Validity

This researcher provided evidence of the appropriateness of the ALQ and LEQ as

instruments for use in research. The reliability of the ALQ and LEQ were established by

demonstrating that the Cronbach’s alphas for the research tools were above the typical standard

of 0.7. The content validity of both the ALQ and LEQ were demonstrated by the original authors

through content validity assessments. The construct validities were established through the use of

confirmatory factor analysis. The criterion validity was established by the original researchers

through evaluations against known constructs, demonstrating discriminant validity. Both

constructs were determined to be have been previously used by researchers on multiple

82

occasions. All evidence indicated that the ALQ and LEQ are valid and reliable tools that can be

used for the research study.

Transition and Summary of Section 2

Section 2 provided a strong foundation on how the research was conducted by first

reestablishing the purpose of the research, the relationship between authentic leadership and the

confidence that followers have for the same leadership within a medium to large department of

local government, then discussing the means by which the research was conducted. The primary

focus of the research was on authentic leadership and confidence of leadership within local

government. The researcher determined that a quantitative approach and a correlational design

was the most appropriate method and design to determine if there was a significant relationship

between the two research variables. The researcher further examined the chosen population and

determined that a purposeful sampling method was the most appropriate and that the sample

frame should be the total population. This decision ensured that the reliability of the study would

not adversely impact the findings and that the findings of the study would be able to generalize

to the defined population. The researcher discussed in detail the instruments for the study, the

ALQ and LEQ, then provided documentation on the reliability and validity of the instruments. A

general discussion was provided on data collection, data organization, and data analysis to ensure

researchers are able to replicate the study in the future. The research project was established as

an effective project to investigate the business problem of low authentic leadership in local

government.

The next section of this dissertation, Section 3, consists of reviewing the research and

providing professional and practical application. The section will cover such items as a general

overview of the research, a presentation of findings, evaluation of the hypotheses and relation to

83

the research questions, a summary of findings, recommendations for action, and

recommendations for future studies. This researcher will also present a professional reflection on

the research conducted and provide a summary of the conclusions from the research.

84

Section 3: Application to Professional Practice and Implications for Change

Research regarding organizational success and effectiveness is ever-expanding and ever

in conflict with determining what attributes truly need to be analyzed; however, most researchers

agree that leadership is a crucial analyst of organization success and effectiveness (Madanchian

et al., 2017). Recent leadership literature is limited for the public sector, particularly local

government. Local government research has had some research interest, typically focusing on

efficiencies within the organization (Narbón‐Perpiñá & De Witte, 2018). The review conducted

by Narbón‐Perpiñá and De Witte (2018) found only 85 useable studies over a 26-year period.

Local government research is challenged with limited research and a need for further research in

leadership so that they are strategically positioned to provide structure and guidance to their

employees and provide adequate services to the community.

Section three of the research study provides additional insight into the research conduct

to better position local government organizations. The section contains a brief overview of the

research study, a presentation of findings, application to professional practice, a biblical

framework, recommendations for action, recommendation for future actions, a personal

reflection on the research conducted that includes biblical principles related to research, and

concludes with a summary that clarifies the most salient points of the research study. The

presentation of findings offers readers the opportunity to review the data collected within the

research study to further understand the findings of the research study. The application to

professional practices section highlights the research findings and applies them to the business

environment, with an emphasis on local government. The recommendations for action and future

studies section examines the findings of the research and offers alternatives that should be

considered to improve business practices and to enhance future research. The personal

85

reflections section provides further insight into the researcher's personal experience and insight

while conducting the research.

Overview of the Study

Both the public and private sectors acknowledge that leadership is a critical component of

successful organizations. The public sector, particularly local government, provides many

services to the community. These communities rely on the local government to provide services,

which supports the need to ensure that there is effective leadership within local government and

that there is adequate confidence in leadership within the same organization. Kettl (2018)

suggested that trust and confidence in organizations are impacted or lowered from the perceived

confidence or trust in other related groups, hinting that some distrust may be inherent due to

historical relationships. This research study sought to understand the relationship between

authentic leadership and leadership confidence or trust within local government by examining

two variables against one another to determine if the relationship is correlated and the extent that

the relationship is impacted differently for a direct and indirect supervisor.

The research conducted was of a non-experimental correlation design and was structured

around obtaining data from individuals within local government concerning authentic leadership

through the ALQ and leadership confidence through the LEQ. Research conducted by

Walumbwa et al. (2008) demonstrated that the ALQ provides reliable data on authentic

leadership through the constructs of transparency, moral/ethical behavior, balanced processing,

and self-awareness. Research conducted by Hannah et al. (2012) demonstrated that the LEQ

provides reliable data on perceived leadership confidence through the constructs of leader

perceived capacity to execute actions, the perceived capacity to think through complex

situations, and the perception that the leader can draw on resources to improve their leadership.

86

This study's primary goal was to accurately articulate the research findings in an unbiased way

and evaluate the association between authentic leadership and leadership confidence within local

government.

Presentation of Findings

Research on authentic leadership is not new, Henderson and Hoy (1983) performed one

of the first attempts to refine the definition and constructs of leadership authenticity in 1983,

where the authors broke the concept of authentic leadership into three constructs: the

responsibility of actions, non-manipulation of subordinates, and salience of self over position

(Gardner et al., 2011). Over the next 14 years, there was minimal discussion in research related

to authentic leadership; however, the topic remerged in 1997 when Bhindi and Duignan (1997)

presented four constructs: authenticity, intentionality, spirituality, and sensibility (Gardner et al.,

2011). Walumbwa et al. (2008) refined the concepts of authentic leadership and provides a

foundation for the research conducted by this study that examines authentic leadership with

leadership confidence within the context of local government.

This non-experimental correlation-based research study was conducted by this researcher

with a sample size of 207, n = 207. The data were collected and then analyzed in June of 2020.

At the time of the research study, the Chesterfield County Department of Utilities consisted of

approximately 302 full-time positions with different functions. The exact count of filled

positions differed from the available positions; at the time of the research study, staff occupied

283 of the 302 full-time positions and were eligible to participate in the research study. The

participation rate for the study was 73.14 percent of the population or 207 participants. After

review of the completed surveys, participants completed only 196 survey responses entirely. The

completed response rate equates to 69.26 percent of the population. This researcher previously

87

determined that a sample size of 170 was needed to meet the minimum standards established for

quantitative research. The 196 participants exceeds the minimum standard and reflects high

standards for the research conducted.

The researcher performed descriptive statistics for the completed dataset obtained from

both the ALQ and LEQ. There were no notable outliers in the data that would significantly

impact the statistical evaluation; all data remained in the statistical evaluation for the study. The

overall authentic leadership and leadership confidence scores were obtained by averaging the

direct supervisor, center manager, self, and management team member scores. The direct

supervisor scores from both instruments were pulled directly from responses. The researcher

calculated the indirect supervisor scores from both instruments by averaging the center manager

and management team member scores. The mean scores for overall authentic leadership, direct

supervisor authentic leadership, and indirect supervisor authentic leadership were found by the

researcher to be very similar and ranged from 3.10 to 3.13. The mean for overall authentic

leadership was determined by the researcher to be 3.13 and had a standard deviation of 0.65. The

mean for authentic leadership for direct supervision was determined to be 3.10 and had a

standard deviation of 0.83. The mean for authentic leadership for indirect supervision was

determined to be 3.11 and had a standard deviation of 0.80. The mean score for the self-

evaluated authentic leadership was much higher at 3.33 and had a much smaller standard

deviation of 0.41. The mean scores for overall leadership confidence, direct supervisor

leadership confidence, and indirect supervisor leadership confidence were found by the

researcher to be very similar and ranged from 76.38 to 78.91. The mean for overall leadership

confidence was determined by the researcher to be 77.95 and had a standard deviation of 18.51.

The mean for leadership confidence for direct supervision was determined to be 76.38 and had a

88

standard deviation of 22.21. The mean for leadership confidence for indirect supervision was

determined to be 78.91 and had a standard deviation of 20.50. The mean for the self-evaluation

of leadership confidence for supervisors was much higher at 82.36 and also had a much smaller

standard deviation of 12.03. An overview of the descriptive statistics of the data for the fully

completed surveys is available in Table 6 for the ALQ and in Table 7 for the LEQ.

Table 6

Descriptive Statistics for ALQ

Range Min. Score

Max. Score

Mean Variance Skewness

Overall Authentic Leadership 3.60 0.40 4.00 3.13 0.42 -1.04

Direct Supervisor Authentic Leadership

3.94 0.06 4.00 3.10 0.69 -1.25

Indirect Supervisor Authentic Leadership

4.00 0.00 4.00 3.11 0.64 -1.38

Table 7

Descriptive Statistics for LEQ

Range Min. Max. Mean Variance Skewness

Overall Confidence in Leadership 94.85 5.15 100.00 77.95 342.78 -1.31

Direct Supervisor Confidence in Leadership 97.73 2.27 100.00 76.38 493.50 -1.26

Indirect Supervisor Confidence in Leadership 96.59 3.41 100.00 78.91 420.33 -1.48

Both variables exhibit a high degree of skewness. Researchers can consider data normally

distributed when the absolute value of the skewness is less than one (Morgan et al., 2013). For

the purpose of this research, the researcher normalized the leadership confidence score to the

89

same scale as the authentic leadership score. The normalization was accomplished by dividing

each participant's scores for leadership confidence by 25. Table 8 provides a summary of the

normalized data. Figure 2 and Figure 3 are histograms of the overall organizational authentic

leadership and normalized leadership confidence scores. These histograms have the normal curve

overlaid on the histogram and provide a visual representation and confirmation that the data are

skewed to the left.

Table 8

Normalized Descriptive Statistics for LEQ

Range Min. Max. Mean Variance Skewness

Overall Confidence in Leadership 3.79 0.21 4.00 3.12 0.55 -1.31

Direct Supervisor Confidence in Leadership 3.91 0.09 4.00 3.06 0.79 -1.26

Indirect Supervisor Confidence in Leadership 3.86 0.14 4.00 3.16 0.67 -1.48

Figure 2

Histogram of Overall Organization Authentic Leadership

90

Figure 3

Histogram of Overall Organization Leadership Confidence

Hypotheses 1

The first null hypothesis was established by the researcher as there was no statistically

significant relationship between low authentic leadership assessment scores and lower

confidence in overall organizational leadership. The independent variable, authentic leadership,

and the dependent variable, confidence in leadership, scores are both at least ordinal and the

variable scores are monotonically related to each other. Therefore, the researcher previously

established the Spearman correlational coefficient as the most appropriate statistical tool to

evaluate the hypothesis. The previous review of skewness for the variables of overall authentic

leadership and leadership confidence indicates that normality is remarkably violated, -1.04 and -

1.31, the researcher validated the previous assumption that the researcher could not use the

Pearson correlation coefficient. The assumptions for the Spearman correlational coefficient are

that the data are at least ordinal and the values of one variable are monotonically related to the

other (Morgan et al., 2013). The researcher demonstrates the monotonical relationship between

the variables in Figure 4. In general; the variables follow a linear pattern when the researcher

91

performed linear regression on the data points; y =0.18 + 0.94x, r2 = 0.68 and r = 0.82. The

Spearman correlational coefficient was calculated by the researcher, r (196) = 0.795, p = <.001.

Figure 4

Scatterplot of Authentic Leadership and Leadership Confidence

The correlation was positive, reflecting that supervisors of participants in the study who

had higher authentic leadership scores tended to have higher leadership confidence scores.

Cohen (1988) expressed that the effect size was much larger than typical when r is equal to or

above the absolute value of 0.70. The r2 indicates approximately 63.2% of the variance in

leadership confidence scores can be predicted from authentic leadership scores. The p-value of <

0.001 reflects a statistically significant relationship between low authentic leadership assessment

scores and lower confidence in overall organizational leadership. Table 9 provides the Spearman

correlational coefficient for authentic leadership and leadership confidence.

92

Table 9

Spearman Correlation for Authentic Leadership and Leadership Confidence

Hypotheses 2

The second null hypothesis was established by the researcher as there was no statistically

significant difference in the relationship between authentic leadership assessment scores and

confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within local

government. The assumptions for the t-test are that the variance of the dependent variable of the

two populations is equal, the dependent variable is normally distributed in each population, and

the scores are independent (Morgan et al., 2013). Interactions between different individuals and

the perception of those same individuals were determined by this researcher to be independent;

therefore, the two populations' scores were considered independent. The data for each

population, direct supervisors and indirect supervisors were previously established as skewed or

not normally distributed. The researcher adjusted the data by reflecting the data, taking the log of

the reflected data, and then reflecting again. The following data then followed a normal

distribution and met the assumption of the t-test. The absolute value of the skewness for all

parameters evaluated ranged from 0.40 to 0.59, aligning with a normal distribution (Morgan et

Spearman’s rho Authentic

Leadership Normalized Leadership Confidence

Authentic Leadership Correlation Coefficient 1.000 .795

Sig. (2-tailed) <0.001

Normalized Confidence in Leadership

Correlation Coefficient .795 1.000

Sig. (2-tailed) <.001

93

al., 2013). The resultant minimum scores ranged from 1.00 to 2.61 and had mean values ranging

from 2.01 to 2.05. Table 5 provides a detailed summary of the descriptive statistics for the

adjusted data.

The researcher used the adjusted data to determine if the relationship between authentic

leadership assessment scores and confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and

indirect supervisors was significant. This task was accomplished by subtracting the leadership

confidence scores from authentic leadership scores and comparing them against the two

populations, direct supervisors and indirect supervisors. Table 10 provides the descriptive

statistics for data and demonstrates the data had a normal distribution; the absolute value of

skewness was less than one at 0.56. The researcher used Levene's test for equality of variance to

test the assumption of equal variance; these values are available in Table 11. The F values for

comparing the two populations against authentic leadership and leadership confidence ranged

from 0.29 to 1.06 and had significant values between 0.30 and 0.60. Levene’s F was determined

not to be statistically significant; it was higher than 0.05 (Morgan et al., 2013). The researcher

met all assumptions for the t-test for the statistical analysis.

Table 10

Descriptive Statistics for Adjusted Data

Range Min. Max. Mean Variance Skewness

Direct Supervisor Authentic Leadership 1.60 1.00 2.60 2.04 .161 -.40

Indirect Supervisor Authentic Leadership 1.61 1.00 2.61 2.05 .150 -.40

Direct Supervisor Leadership Confidence 1.59 1.00 2.59 2.01 .171 -.50

Indirect Supervisor Leadership Confidence 1.58 1.00 2.58 2.05 .154 -.59

94

Table 11

Descriptive Statistics for Difference in Scores

Range Min.

Score Max. Score

Mean Variance Skewness

Difference 2.58 -1.22 1.36 0.14 .07 .56

Table 12

Independent Samples Test

F Sig. t df Sig

(2-tailed) Mean

Difference 95%

Confidence Interval

Difference in Scores 0.29 0.60 1.07 390 0.29 0.03 -0.02 to 0.08

Authentic Leadership 1.06 0.30 -0.88 390 0.38 -0.04 -0.12 to 0.04

Leadership Confidence 0.33 0.57 -0.17 390 0.86 -0.01 -0.09 to 0.07

Table 12 demonstrates the t-test values and conveys that there is not enough evidence to

say that there is a systematic difference between direct and indirect supervisors when comparing

authentic leadership against leadership confidence; t = 1.07, (df) = 390, and p = 0.29. The same

is true when comparing authentic leadership scores for indirect supervisors and indirect

supervisors; t = -0.88, (df) = 390, and p = 0.38. The same also holds true for leadership

confidence between direct and indirect supervisors; t = -0.17, (df) = 390, and p = 0.86. There is

also verification through the 95 percent confidence interval that there is not sufficient evidence to

declare a statistically significant difference; all of the confidence intervals contain both positive

and negative values. Morgan et al. (2013) conveyed the finding of zero difference within the

confidence interval's lower and upper limits supports no evidence of statistical significance.

95

Relationship of Hypotheses to Research Questions

This correlational research aimed to address the gaps in current literature and empirical

data related to the government sector concerning authentic leadership and leadership confidence.

The researcher identified authentic leadership as the independent variable and leadership

confidence as the dependent variable. The first research question examined whether there was a

relationship between authentic leadership and confidence in overall organizational leadership

within local government. The corresponding null hypothesis conveys that there was no

statistically significant relationship between low authentic leadership assessment scores and

lower confidence in overall organizational leadership. The corresponding alternative hypothesis

for that research was that there was a statistically significant relationship between low authentic

leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in overall organizational leadership. The

researcher analyzed the null hypothesis with the assistance of the participants within the research

study population and determined the Spearman correlation coefficient. The Spearman

correlational coefficient was determined to be 0.795 and the probability was < 0.001. The

correlation was positive, which reflects that supervisors of participants in the study who had low

authentic leadership scores tended to have a lower leadership confidence score. The p-value of <

0.001 reflects that there is a statistically significant relationship between low authentic leadership

assessment scores and lower confidence in overall organizational leadership. Based on the

statistical results, the researcher rejected the null hypothesis and accepted the alternative

hypothesis for the first research question.

The second research question examined was if there was a difference in the relationship

between authentic leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership between

direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within local government. The corresponding null

96

hypothesis conveys that there was no statistically significant difference in the relationship

between authentic leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership between

direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within local government. The corresponding

alternative hypothesis for that research was that there was a statistically significant difference in

the relationship between authentic leadership assessment scores and lower confidence in

leadership between direct supervisors and indirect supervisors within local government. The

researcher analyzed the null hypothesis through the use of the t-test. The t-test value

demonstrates that there is not enough evidence to indicate that there is a systematic difference

between direct and indirect supervisors when comparing authentic leadership against leadership

confidence; t = 1.07, (df) = 390, and p = 0.29. The p-value of > 0.05 reflects that there is

insufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis. Based on the statistical results, the researcher

cannot accept the null hypothesis nor accepted the alternative hypothesis for the second research

question.

Summary of the Findings

There are two critical findings determined by the research conducted that relate to the

research topic of authentic leadership and leadership confidence. These findings add to the

empirical data available to local government, authentic leadership, and leadership confidence.

The first finding was that the research demonstrated that there was statistical evidence to reject

the first research question's null hypothesis, concluding that authentic leadership has a

relationship to leadership confidence. The research also demonstrated that the relation or

correlation was positive, meaning that low authentic leadership correlated with low leadership

confidence and that high authentic leadership correlated with high leadership confidence. The

second finding of this research was related to the relationship between authentic leadership and

97

leadership confidence at different levels of supervision, specifically direct and indirect

supervision.

The research did not demonstrate that there was adequate statistical evidence to reject the

null hypothesis of the second research question; therefore there is insufficient evidence to

support a finding that there is a difference in the relationship between authentic leadership and

leadership confidence when compared to direct and indirect supervisors within local government.

These findings can be utilized by local government leaders to focus on leadership training

programs and to better understand the relationship between authentic leadership and leadership

confidence. The empirical data provides essential background on the need to support adequate

leadership training programs that encompass aspects of authentic leadership within local

government. Given the recent increase in authentic leadership interest over the last several

decades, this research also provides empirical data that local government leaders and scholars

can utilize to understand further critical aspects of authentic leadership that is currently absent in

research. The findings from this research study provide useful information and insights for

researchers as well as practitioners to examine and continue to further the expansion of

knowledge with respect to authentic leadership and leadership confidence.

Application to Professional Practice

The research's primary finding was that there was significant statistical evidence that

there was a correlation between authentic leadership and leadership confidence or trust in

leadership. The secondary finding of the research shows that there was inadequate evidence to

conclude that direct and indirect supervisors had a difference in the relationship between

authentic leadership and leadership confidence. These findings have significant applications to

the public sector and local government concerning training programs, financial impact, and

98

employee retention. A further reflection of the biblical framework and relationship to authentic

leadership development and leadership confidence can be applied to gather a better

understanding of the application of these findings to professional practice.

Training Development and Financial Impact

Leaders in the public sector and local government need to benchmark to ensure

governments have the best leadership development strategy to attract and retain employees who

can effectively and efficiently provide services to the communities. This research study provides

one such benchmark for other public sector and local governments to utilize to more effectively

train leaders within their organizations. The data provided within the study provides a reference

point for local government leaders to evaluate their performance with a similar organization. The

overall authentic leadership scores for this study had a broad range with a minimum score of

0.40 and a high score of 4.0. The mean score was 3.13 and had a standard deviation of 0.65; this

conveys that there is room for improvement concerning authentic leadership for the local

government studied.

It is also essential for leaders in local government to understand how their subordinates

perceive leaders within their organization and to know the effectiveness of the same leaders in

instilling confidence and trust in their leadership abilities; this understanding ensures that

adequate resources can be applied to improve leadership training programs further, where

needed. Effective utilization of resources remains a hot topic for the general public; this can be

seen through taxpayers' continued scrutiny regarding expenses and public sector compensation

(Edwards, 2010). Public sector productivity research in the educational sector further suggests

that merely increasing resources across the board does not guarantee increased productivity or

success (O'Leary, 2015). O’Leary (2015) further clarified that training is one of several

99

significant factors to consider in the public sector for improving productivity. Rego et al. (2012)

contended that adults cannot develop authentic leadership skills. Learned behaviors are hard to

change once an individual established their behavior (Rego et al., 2012). Local governments may

find value in focusing on new leaders to further maximize training resources on the most

responsive individuals within their organization. Rego et al. (2012) further suggested that some

non-genuine leaders may hide their true selves and only portray what is expected of them if they

have established their leadership behavior. With limited resources, both financial and staff, one

can reasonably conclude that effective leadership development programs should include some

aspect of authentic leadership development to ensure the organization focus on topics that have a

strong correlation to leadership confidence and trust. Effective programs could focus on young or

emerging leadership to maximize the effectiveness of the training programs.

Retention of Employees

Retention of employees is a critical aspect that all leaders and organizations should

consider; low retention has a significant impact ranging from lost productivity to low morale and

even reduced service levels (Mamun & Hasan, 2017). Brown et al. (2015) agreed with Mamum

and Hasan (2017) and suggested that increased productivity is positivity associated with

organization trust. The study demonstrated high variability in leadership confidence or trust in

leadership; the lowest score seen was 5.15, and the highest was 100. The mean value for overall

confidence in leadership was 77.95 and had a standard deviation of 18.51; this suggests that there

is room for improvement in the local government evaluated for this study. While low levels of

organization trust can lead to turnover, research suggests that some level of turnover is

considered healthy; this value is approximately 10 to 12 percent (Pittman, 2020). Pittman (2020)

further declared that excessively high turnover can create an inherently unstable environment

100

that damages the organization over the long-term. Supervisors play a critical role in overall

organization trust and retention; supervisors regulate subordinates' undesirable behavior and

protect those same employees from others, strengthening the relationship between both parties

(Liu et al., 2018). Local government organizations with high levels of employee turnover can

utilize the findings of the research study to strengthen their leadership programs. The research

study findings demonstrate the extent that supervisors in local government impact organization

trust through multiple layers of supervision, both direct and indirect. The high correlation for

both direct and indirect supervisors suggests a value for local governments with high turnover to

examine more closely the confidence in organization leadership and provides insight on how

authentic leadership could potentially strengthen organization trust. There exist potential that

local governments may be able to decrease the attrition rate and increasing the overall

productivity of their organization through the development of authentic leaders.

Biblical Framework

Leaders within the public and private sectors are often confronted with issues that have

different ethical values within today's business environment. The conflict often correlates with a

mistrust in leadership, which can be translated by leaders to followers through a

misunderstanding of organizational priorities and positive moral values. The strong correlation of

authentic leadership and leadership confidence is also available for scholars through biblical

references. The Bible demonstrates a plethora of examples of the aspects of authentic leadership

and the aspects of leadership confidence that reaffirms that these variables studied within this

research are rooted firmly in the Christian faith. Paul provides an example of both authentic

leadership and leadership confidence in 2 Corinthians 1:12-24 (New International Version,

2011). Paul previously promised to visit Corinth two times and had failed to follow through his

101

commitments; he explained to the Corinthians that his intent was not to deceive but to visit when

he could bring them joy (New International Version, 2011, 2 Corinthians 1:24). The Corinthians

demonstrate confidence in Paul's leadership in the Bible through the understanding that even

though the Corinthians did not know all the reasons behind Paul's actions that they could trust his

actions as pure (New International Version, 2011, 2 Corinthians 1:14).

The second aspect of authentic leaders is moral or ethical behavior, and it is apparent

through Proverb 3:5-6 (New International Version, 2011), which asks individuals to submit to

the values of God and not rely solely on their judgment. The concept of ethical behavior is also

apparent through Proverbs 16:12 (New International Version, 2011), which expresses that kings

or leaders are held to a higher standard of ethical behavior. Scholars can see this moral compass

through many biblical characters; however, this author will focus on Daniel. Daniel retained a

high position in the government, and many of his colleagues were jealous (New International

Version, 2011, Daniel 6:1-5). The same colleagues caused the king to change the law and forbid

prayer to no one other than the king (New International Version, 2011, Daniel 6:6-9). Daniel

maintained his moral convictions and prayed regardless, and as a result, he was cast into the lion

den (New International Version, 2011, Daniel 6:19). Daniel’s ethical behavior was reward and

confidence in both him and God was restored when he emerged from the lion den unharmed

(New International Version, 2011, Daniel 6:21-23).

The third aspect of authentic leadership is balanced processing and Rehoboam

exemplifies the lack of such traits through Rehoboam's action in 1 Kings 12 (New International

Version, 2011). Rehoboam refused to listen to his father's advisers; in so doing, he demonstrated

that he did not have balanced processing and also did not possess the capacity to think through a

102

complicated situation. As a direct result of these actions, he lost half his kingdom and confidence

of his followers (New International Version, 2011, 1 Kings 12).

The fourth construct of authentic leadership is self-awareness and is referenced by

biblical authors in Proverb 20:5 (New International Version, 2011), which conveys that the mind

of an individual is complex and that an individual that seeks knowledge will have a better

understanding of themselves. The primary example of self-awareness in the Bible is Jesus Christ;

he understood who he was, when Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, he conveyed that he had

self-consciousness and that he was a deity (New International Version, 2011, John 4:10). Similar

to how the research demonstrated that there was a significant relationship between authentic

leadership and leadership confidence, Jesus Christ also exhibits both characteristics. Jesus Christ

exemplifies the last aspect of leadership confidence, the ability to draw on other resources to

enhance their leadership. This aspect can be seen through Jesus Christ's use of the disciples to

continue his mission and spread the word of God further (New International Version, 2011, Mark

16:15) assessment scores and lower confidence in leadership between direct supervisors and

indirect supervisors within local government.

Recommendations for Action

The researcher performed descriptive statistics for the completed dataset obtained from

both the ALQ and LEQ. The research demonstrated that there was a correlation between

authentic leadership and leadership confidence in the local government and that there was not

adequate significant statistical evidence that the relationship between authentic leadership and

leadership confidence was different between direct and indirect supervisors. The researcher will

provide the researcher's findings to the leaders of the individuals that participated in the study,

and these findings will be made available to the participants through those same leaders. The

103

researcher has offered to meet any individual that participated in the study; this was done by the

researcher to provide an opportunity for the participants to ask questions and to provide further

insight. Government leaders can utilize these findings to focus on training efforts, reallocate

funding for effective training, and improve staff retention. Scholars can utilize these findings to

understand further how authentic leadership impacts individuals in the government sector and

continues their research efforts.

Training

Training is critical to improving employees' quality of performance so that they have

adequate managerial and technical capabilities (Rahayu et al., 2019). Often ineffective training

programs in the public service sector lead to low commitment, decreased productivity, decreased

quality, and increases in complexity of developmental problems (Rahayu et al., 2019). Local

governments often benchmark staff performance to garner the effectiveness of training and other

parameters to improve governmental efficiency (Spreen et al., 2020). This research provides

such a benchmark for organizations to evaluate what training is essential for the development of

public sector leaders within their organization. Getha-Taylor et al. (2015) expressed that the

development of leaders in local government is essential to ensuring local governments remain

productive and efficient and that the development provides support to succession plaining

through the enhancement of future leadership capacity. Findings of this research support local

government leaders evaluating their current leadership development programs and determining

the need for additional training on authentic leadership. Jewson et al. (2015) expressed that the

public sector typically has a training participation rate of approximately 19 to 23 percent. Local

government departments and governments in their entirety should perform a similar evaluation

that was conducted by the research study on supervisors to determine the level of authenticity

104

that is demonstrated to staff to further assist those organizations with determining development

program needs. The second step that should be taken by those same organizations is determining

which leaders should be developed within the organization to utilize resources more effectively;

this is particularly of value due to the low participation. The research provided was unable to

provide statistical evidence to support a finding of statistical difference between direct and

indirect supervisors; however, Rego et al. (2012) suggested that junior supervisors should be the

focus due to learned behavior not being established. Once local government leaders have

determined the needs of the training programs, the next course of action for local government

leaders to consider is the determination of how to fund such programs.

Reallocation of Funding

Jewson et al. (2015) expressed that researchers frequently see employer-provided training

at a higher level of funding in the public sector than in the private sector and that often in times

of financial crisis, those training and development funds are cut. Jewson et al. (2015) further

suggested that organizations should modify modes of delivery instead of establishing funding

cuts. In 2018, on average, training budgets were reduced by 6.8 percent (Training, 2018). Other

training budgets decreased overall to $29.6 billion in 2018, from $44.5 billion in 2017 (Training,

2018). Due to COVID-19, recent financial concerns have created a new potential for budgetary

cuts to programs such as training, even in the public sector. The high correlation of authentic

leadership with leadership confidence demonstrates a need for public sector organizations such

as local governments to reevaluate training budgets to ensure that confidence in supervisory

leadership is maintained, even during periods of financial concerns. Training (2018) expressed

that governments and the military had the highest tool budget for training than any other group

evaluated. A potential alternative local government leader should consider may be to lower the

105

budget for tools and focus on critical training to improve leadership confidence and trust.

Leaders should evaluate the training tools' effectiveness against the value that the training tool

provides to employees. Reduction in technology-based learning and training platforms, in line

with service industries, manufacturers, retail, education, associations, and nonprofits, may offer a

means to reallocate resources to meet the organization's needs better. Holistically, local

governments and the public should review and improve training program budgets to support

authentic leadership development programs due to the high correlation with leadership

confidence that could improve local government leadership trust.

Improved Retention of Staff

There is evidence that training and development programs increase profitability, enhance

the organization's reputation, and reduce overall organizational attrition (Spreen et al., 2020).

Authentic leadership development is critical for local government leaders to retain staff. Mwita

et al. (2018) demonstrated through their research study of commercial banks that there is a linear

relationship between leadership and retention. It stands to reason that local governments that

improve authentic leadership, a new leadership style will also improve employee retention based

on past research. Another reason training and succession management of existing staff is

essential is that in recent years there has been an increasing number of retirements of many

public sector managers in both the United States and the European Union; this rate is expected

by researchers to continue over the next decade (Cregård & Corin, 2019). Existing research is

limited in extensiveness to public-sector voluntary managerial turnover, with very few research

articles published in recent years (Cregård et al., 2017). This period in time represents a critical

juncture where local governments need to reevaluate their organization's succession management

programs for key leaders. In addition, the findings of this research support local government

106

leaders developing and molding up and coming leaders to be better suited for authentic

leadership and improve existing organization trust organically through the focused efforts on

junior staff. Without the additional focus, there will there be a void of leadership and potential

further lost in organization leadership confidence and trust.

Recommendations for Further Studies

Future studies should evaluate the variables of authentic leadership and leadership

confidence against each variable's primary constructs to determine if one construct has more

correlation than the others on overall leadership confidence. This study's time limitations

prevented an experimental design that could provide causation between the two variables;

however, future researchers may find value in evaluating authentic leadership and leadership

confidence over a period of time where additional development was provided to leaders to

improve authentic leadership characteristics. Future research on causation could provide value to

local governments with respect to further refining development programs. Future researchers

may also find value in expanding the realm of research beyond a single organization; this

expansion would increase the amount of empirical research on the topic of authentic leadership.

Correlation of Primary Construct

The primary goal of the research conducted was to determine if there was a correlation

between two variables, authentic leadership and leadership confidence. The instruments utilized

in the study further refine those variables from their primary constructs. The primary constructs

of authentic leadership are transparency, moral or ethical behavior, balanced processing, and

self-awareness (Walumbwa et al., 2008). The primary constructs of leadership efficacy or leader

confidence are the perceived capability to execute critical actions, the perceived capability to

think through complex situations, and the perceived ability to draw on resources to enhance

107

leadership abilities (Hannah et al., 2012). The data points for authentic leadership's constructs

could be summarized from existing data and compare against overall leadership confidence to

determine if there is a higher correlation between the primary constructs of authentic leadership

and leadership confidence. Conversely, the three primary constructs of leadership efficacy could

be summarized and correlated with authentic leadership to determine if a higher relationship

exists. The additional examination could provide additional insight into the relationship between

authentic leadership and leadership confidence.

Correlation and Causation

Although sometimes misinterpreted correlation does not imply causation (Huang, 2014).

When two variables are correlated, such as authentic leadership and leadership confidence, it

does mean that the first variable causes the second or vice versa (Huang, 2014). Altman and

Krzywinski (2015) provided further insight on dependence and causation by explaining that in

order to show dependence, one variable has to show influence on the other. An experimental

design over a period of time, where additional training is provided, may offer future researchers

a means to show dependency or causation between the variables of authentic leadership and

leadership confidence.

Other Public Sectors

The research population consisted of a single department within local government; the

total population of the entire local government was approximately 3,509 individuals. This

researcher rationalized that the process of contacting local government employees through their

department directors would have been prohibitively time-consuming, especially in the context of

a time-restricted study. The process would also increase the potential for limited access to non-

respondents, especially during time periods of crisis, such as COVID-19. Expanding the research

108

to include more departments within local governments has the potential to increase data related

to the field of study. This researcher recommends that additional studies be done at different

localities or municipalities and that future researchers focus on different departments with

different sizes. The population studied for this research was a medium to large-sized department;

future researchers may examine multiple small departments or focus primarily on large-sized

departments within local government. The benefit of such research is that it provides a better

understanding of the larger population of local government, allowing the research to be more

reflective of the local government population (Salkind, 2010).

Reflection

The researcher for this study has worked as a leader in various fields, including the

nuclear, water, and wastewater field for more than 16 years. The researcher also holds several

degrees, including an Associate of Science in Environmental Science and Technology, a

Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology, a Master of Business Administration,

and a Master of Science in Information Systems. The research study provided this researcher

with their first-ever experience with scholarly research and provided an opportunity to refine

valuable research skills during the course of the study. The researcher had experience in practical

application with utilizing the statistical analysis to address common dilemmas related to business

applications; however, the research provided new learned experience with primary data

collection and independent analysis. As a direct result of the research's time constraints during

the research balancing family commitments and work commitments with the research

commitments, the researcher has a new understanding of time management.

The research findings supported the researcher's initial preconceived ideas related to

authentic leadership and leadership confidence based on anecdotal evidence from past leadership

109

experiences. The researcher has had many positions within the military and the water/wastewater

industry; this experience has shown the researcher that authentic leaders typically garner trust

from their team and unauthentic leaders typically instill misgivings in followers. The correlation

found through the study was much higher than the researcher suspected; this reaffirmed the

researcher’s previous position that there was a relationship between authentic leadership and

leadership confidence. The researcher also had a preconceived idea that direct and indirect

supervisors would have a difference in the relationship between authentic leadership and

leadership confidence; however, the research findings did not support the researcher's previous

perception of direct and indirect supervisor relationships. Life experiences had previously

demonstrated to the researcher that the close relationship between supervisors and subordinates

typically created stronger responses due to the direct day to day interactions than is typically

seen with indirect supervisors. The research findings suggest that this preconceived concept may

not be accurate or that there may be unique circumstances within the chosen population that are

exceptions to the rule; further studies are needed by researchers to determine which idea may be

correct and more appropriate with reflecting on this study’s participants.

As mentioned earlier in the study, there is a potential for sample bias due to the

researcher working for the organization over multiple years. The bias could have created an

opportunity for sample results for indirect supervisors to be impacted, since the researcher was

an indirect supervisor for many of the participants. In addition, individuals within the chosen

organization have worked closely with the researcher for many years and at various levels within

the organization; therefore, some bias in response may be present concerning the researcher. It is

important to note that the researcher is in a leadership position within the chosen local

government. It was also established by the researcher to the participants that confidentially

110

would be maintained through unique identifiers; however, there still exists a potential that some

participants may not have entirely accepted the confidentially and ranked inherently higher when

evaluating their management team members. To prevent bias of results, the researcher proposed

to utilize an additional individual to record the responses from individuals that the researcher has

a direct leadership relationship. This extra step, in conjunction with the unique identifiers,

ensured that any bias was limited and not impactful to the research findings.

Biblical Principles

Winston (2018) expressed through a review of current literature on leadership that

followers, through observation and interpretation, will attribute a motive to a leader’s actions.

The Bible reflects this concept through Matthew 5:13–16 (New International Version, 2011).

The verses suggest that once someone loses their true self, they are worthless and have no

purpose. The verses further suggest that Christian leaders should retain their values or core

selves and that through that conviction they are examples or provide light to others, and through

their pure actions, they glorify God. This visual is powerful imagery, especially in the context of

the verse. Through Jesus Christ’s use of imagery, he is suggesting that the light on the hill that

shines for miles around is the same as the light a Christian leader shines when they demonstrated

authentic Christian values to others within their organization. The authentic leader must be true

to their values, but they must also be true to their word. Matthew 5:33–37 (New International

Version, 2011) provides context to this statement and proclaims that individuals should not make

false vows or lie, but instead should fulfill the commits to God. In today’s organizations, it is

more important than ever to adhere to these principles of honestly and trueness to self so that we

can lead collectively as Christians.

111

Summary and Conclusion

Research in leadership continues to be of high interest for both the public and private

sectors; this interest is not limited to the academic setting; practitioners also have an interest in

understanding leadership and improving on it. The inherent desire to understand and improve on

leadership is compounded by the recent loss in confidence and trust in government, especially

during times of crisis. Existing research by Hannah et al. (2012) and Walumbwa et al. (2008)

provided the foundation for examining the variables. The research builds on existing research

and fills existing gaps in research related to authentic leadership by contributing to research's

empirical and practitioner classifications. The research further filled existing gaps in research by

providing a viewpoint into the public sector, primarily the local government, which is not well

represented in existing research.

The research study examined one local government through the lens of authentic

leadership and leadership confidence to further understand the relationship between the two

variables and to strengthen existing knowledge in the field of study. The research utilized a

quantitative approach in conjunction with a correlational design to determine if there was a

significant relationship between the two variables of authentic leadership and confidence in

leadership. The primary finding of the research was that there was significant statistical evidence

that there was a correlation between authentic leadership and leadership confidence or trust in

leadership. The secondary finding of the research shows that there was inadequate evidence to

conclude that direct and indirect supervisors had a difference in the relationship between

authentic leadership and leadership confidence. Based on the finding of the research, the

researcher proposed three actions that local government leaders could take to strengthen their

organizations: improve training programs to incorporate aspects of authentic leadership;

112

reallocation of resources and funding effective training programs; and strengthening succession

management programs by focusing efforts on the junior leaders that may have the most

significant impact on organization trust in the long-term. Further study related to authentic

leadership and authentic leadership is needed to advance the field of study; however, the research

study provides a stable building block to enhance understanding and provide local government

leaders insight into ways to improve local government organizations through authentic

leadership.

113

References

Ali, H. E., Schalk, R., van Engen, M., & van Assen, M. (2018). Leadership self-efficacy and

effectiveness: The moderating influence of task complexity: Leadership self-efficacy and

effectiveness. Journal of Leadership Studies, 11(4), 21–40. doi:10.1002/jls.21550

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2016). Hero worship: The elevation of the human spirit: Hero

worship. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 46(2), 187–210.

doi:10.1111/jtsb.12094

Altman, N., & Krzywinski, M. (2015). Points of significance: Association, correlation and

causation. Nature Methods, 12(10), 899. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3587

Alvesson, M., & Einola, K. (2019). Warning for excessive positivity: Authentic leadership and

other traps in leadership studies. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(4), 383–395.

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.04.001

Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review

and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411

Ang, S. H. (2014). Research design for business & management. Sage.

Arda, Ö. A., Aslan, T., & Alpkan, L. (2016). Review of practical implications in authentic

leadership studies. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 229, 246–252.

doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.135

Asano, R., Ito, K., & Yoshida, T. (2016). Shared relationship efficacy of dyad can increase life

satisfaction in close relationships: Multilevel study. PloS One, 11(7), e0159822.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159822

114

Asencio, H., & Mujkic, E. (2016). Leadership behaviors and trust in leaders: Evidence from the

U.S. federal government. Public Administration Quarterly, 40(1), 156–179.

Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Weber, T. J. (2009). Leadership: Current theories, research,

and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 60(1), 421–449.

doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163621

Azanza, G., Moriano, J. A., Molero, F., & Mangin, J. (2015). The effects of authentic leadership

on turnover intention. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(8), 955–971.

doi:10.1108/LODJ-03-2014-0056

Bachmann, R., Gillespie, N., & Priem, R. (2015). Repairing trust in organizations and

institutions: Toward a conceptual framework. Organization Studies, 36(9), 1123–1142.

doi:10.1177/0170840615599334

Barton, M. A., & Kahn, W. A. (2019). Group resilience: The place and meaning of relational

pauses. Organization Studies, 40(9), 1409–1429. doi:10.1177/0170840618782294

Berkovich, I. (2014). Between person and person: Dialogical pedagogy in authentic leadership

development. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(2), 245–264.

doi:10.5465/amle.2012.0367

Bhindi, N., & Duignan, P. (1997). Leadership for a new century: Authenticity, intentionality,

spirituality, and sensibility. Educational Management and Administration, 25(2), 117–

132.

Bjørge, A. K., & Whittaker, S. (2015). Corporate values: A linguistic approach. International

Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 15(3), 347–362.

doi:10.1177/1470595815606742

115

Blanchard, K., Hodges, P., & Hendry, P. (2016). Lead like Jesus Revisited: Lessons for everyone

from the greatest leadership role model of all time. Thomas Nelson.

Blekkingh, B. W. (2015). Authentic leadership: Discover and live your essential mission. Infinite

Ideas.

Bobbio, A., & Manganelli, A. M. (2009). Leadership self-efficacy scale: A new

multidimensional instrument. TPM-Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied

Psychology, 16(1), 3–24.

Borbasi, S., & Jackson, D. (2015). Navigating the maze of research: Enhancing nursing and

midwifery practice. Mosby Elsevier.

Brannen, J. (2017). Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research (1st ed.). Taylor and

Francis. doi:10.4324/9781315248813

Brender-Ilan, Y., & Sheaffer, Z. (2019). How do self-efficacy, narcissism and autonomy mediate

the link between destructive leadership and counterproductive work behavior. Asia

Pacific Management Review, 24(3), 212–222. doi:10.1016/j.apmrv.2018.05.003

Brown, S., Gray, D., McHardy, J., & Taylor, K. (2015). Employee trust and workplace

performance. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 116, 361–378.

doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2015.05.001

Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the

multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56(2), 81–105.

https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046016

Cervo, C., Mónico, L., Santos, N., Hutz, C., & Pais, L. (2016). Authentic leadership

questionnaire: Invariance between samples of Brazilian and Portuguese employees.

Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 29(1), 1–11. doi:10.1186/s41155-016-0046-4

116

Chau, P. Y. K. (1999). On the use of construct reliability in MIS research: A meta-analysis.

Information & Management, 35(4), 217–227. doi:10.1016/S0378-7206(98)00089-5

Cheng, K., Wei, F., & Lin, Y. (2019). The trickle-down effect of responsible leadership on

unethical pro-organizational behavior: The moderating role of leader-follower value

congruence. Journal of Business Research, 102, 34–43.

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.044

Chesterfield County. (2019). Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

https://www.chesterfield.gov/Archive.aspx?ADID=608

Chesterfield County Department of Utilities. (2019). Informational Brochure.

https://www.chesterfield.gov/DocumentCenter/View/321

Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing

measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255.

Chughtai, A., Byrne, M., & Flood, B. (2015). Linking ethical leadership to employee well-being:

The role of trust in supervisor. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(3), 653–663.

doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2126-7

Clark, C. M., & Harrison, C. (2018). Leadership: The complexities and state of the field.

European Business Review, 30(5), 514–528. doi:10.1108/EBR-07-2017-0139

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. L. Erlbaum Associates

Covelli, B. J., & Mason, I. (2017). Linking theory to practice: Authentic leadership. Academy of

Strategic Management Journal, 16(3), 1–10.

Coxen, L., Van der Vaart, L., & Stander, M. W. (2016). Authentic leadership and organisational

citizenship behaviour in the public health care sector: The role of workplace trust. SA

Journal of Industrial Psychology, 42(1), 1–13. doi:10.4102/sajip.v42i1.1364

117

Crane, A., Henriques, I., Husted, B. W., & Matten, D. (2017). Measuring corporate social

responsibility and impact: Enhancing quantitative research design and methods in

business and society research. Business & Society, 56, 787–795.

https://doi.org/10.1177/000765031771326

Crawford, J. A., Dawkins, S., Martin, A., & Lewis, G. (2020). Putting the leader back into

authentic leadership: Reconceptualising and rethinking leaders. Australian Journal of

Management, 45(1), 114–133. doi:10.1177/0312896219836460

Cregård, A., & Corin, L. (2019). Public sector managers: The decision to leave or remain in a

job. Human Resource Development International, 22(2), 158–176. doi:10.1080/136788

Cregård, A., Corin, L., & Skagert, K. (2017). Voluntary turnover among public sector managers:

A review. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 21(2), 89–114.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods

approaches (4th ed.). Sage.

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed

methods approaches (5th ed.). Sage.

Curry, L., & Nunez-Smith, M. (2015). Mixed methods in health sciences research: A practical

primer. Sage.

Curtis, E. A., Comiskey, C., & Dempsey, O. (2016). Importance and use of correlational

research. Nurse Researcher, 23(6), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2016.e1382

Cushman, F. (2015). Deconstructing intent to reconstruct morality. Current Opinion in

Psychology, 6, 97–103. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.06.003

Custis, J. A. (2017). Trust: The 15th leadership trait. Marine Corps Gazette, 101(7), 30.

118

Datta, B. (2015). Assessing the effectiveness of authentic leadership. International Journal of

Leadership Studies, 9(1).

Derue, D. S., Nahrgang, J. D., Wellman, N., & Humphrey, S. E. (2011). Trait and behavioral

theories of leadership: An integration and meta‐analytic test of their relative validity.

Personnel Psychology, 64(1), 7–52. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2010.01201.x

Do Monte, P. A. (2017). Public versus private sector: Do workers’ behave differently?

Economia, 18(2), 229–243. doi:10.1016/j.econ.2017.01.001

Duberman, T. (2015). Leading authentically. Strategic HR Review, 14(3), 109–110.

doi:10.1108/SHR-03-2015-0026

Eagly, A. H. (2005). Achieving relational authenticity in leadership: Does gender matter?

Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 459–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.007

Edwards, C. (2010). Public sector unions and the rising costs of employee compensation. Cato

Journal, 30(1), 87–115.

Epitropaki, O., Kark, R., Mainemelis, C., & Lord, R. G. (2017). Leadership and followership

identity processes: A multilevel review. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(1), 104–129.

doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.10.003

Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and

purposive sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1–14.

https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11

Feeney, M. K., & Boardman, C. (2011). Organizational confidence: An empirical assessment of

highly positive public managers. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory:

J-PART, 21(4), 673–697. doi:10.1093/jopart/muq044

119

Fincham, J. E. (2008). Response rates and responsiveness for surveys, standards, and the journal.

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 72(2), 43.

https://dx.doi.org/10.5688%2Faj720243

Fleishman, E. A., Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Levin, K. Y., Korothkin, A. L., & Hein, M. B.

(1991). Taxonomic efforts in the description of leader behavior: A synthesis and

functional interpretation. Leadership Quarterly, 2(4), 245–287.

https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(91)90016-U

Ford, J., & Harding, N. (2011). The impossibility of the “true self” of authentic leadership.

Leadership, 7(4), 463–479. doi:10.1177/1742715011416894

Ford, R. C., Ford, L. R., & Piccolo, R. F. (2017). Strategies for building effective virtual teams:

Trust is key. Business Horizons, 60(1), 25–34. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2016.08.009

Frisk, K. (2019). What makes a hero? Theorising the social structuring of heroism. Sociology,

53(1), 87–103. doi:10.1177/0038038518764568

Fu, P., Liu, J., Ji, X., Zhong, S., & Yu, G. (2016). Leading in a highly competitive environment:

effects of CEO confident leadership on follower commitment in China. Frontiers of

Business Research in China, 10(2), 149–175. doi:10.3868/s070-005-016-0007-4

Gall, M., Gall, J., & Borg, W. (2007). Educational research: An introduction (8th ed.). Logman.

Gardiner, R. A. (2017). Authentic leadership through an ethical prism. Advances in Developing

Human Resources, 19(4), 467–477. doi:10.1177/1523422317728941

Gardner, W. L., Cogliser, C. C., Davis, K. M., & Dickens, M. P. (2011). Authentic leadership: A

review of the literature and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(6), 1120–

1145. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.09.007

120

Garrigan, B., Adlam, A. L. R., & Langdon, P. E. (2018). Moral decision-making and moral

development: Toward an integrative framework. Developmental Review, 49, 80–100.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2018.06.001

Gartzia, L., & Baniandrés, J. (2016). Are people-oriented leaders perceived as less effective in

task performance? Surprising results from two experimental studies. Journal of Business

Research, 69(2), 508–516. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.05.008

Gatling, A., Shum, C., Book, L., & Bai, B. (2017). The influence of hospitality leaders’

relational transparency on followers’ trust and deviance behaviors: Mediating role of

behavioral integrity. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 62, 11–20.

doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.11.010

George, B., & Sims, P. (2007). True north: Discover your authentic leadership. Jossey-Bass.

Getha-Taylor, H., Fowles, J., Silvia, C., & Merritt, C. C. (2015). Considering the effects of time

on leadership development: A local government training evaluation. Public Personnel

Management, 44(3), 295–316. doi:10.1177/0091026015586265

Gilbert, G. R., Myrtle, R. C., & Sohi, R. S. (2015). Relational behavior of leaders: A comparison

by vocational context. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 22(2), 149–160.

doi:10.1177/1548051814548278

Gill, C., Gardner, W., Claeys, J., & Vangronsvelt, K. (2018). Using theory on authentic

leadership to build a strong human resource management system. Human Resource

Management Review, 28(3), 304–318. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.02.006

Giurge, L. M., van Dijke, M., Zheng, M. X., & De Cremer, D. (2019). Does power corrupt the

mind? The influence of power on moral reasoning and self-interested behavior. The

Leadership Quarterly. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.03.003

121

Gjoneska, B., Liuzza, M. T., Porciello, G., Caprara, G. V., & Aglioti, S. M. (2019). Bound to the

group and blinded by the leader: Ideological leader–follower dynamics in a trust

economic game. Royal Society Open Science, 6(9), 182023. doi:10.1098/rsos.182023

Gliner, J. A., Morgan, G. A., & Leech, N. L. (2016). Research methods in applied settings: An

integrated approach to design and analysis (3rd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Guenter, H., Gardner, W. L., Davis McCauley, K., Randolph-Seng, B., & Prabhu, V. P. (2017).

Shared authentic leadership in research teams: Testing a multiple mediation model. Small

Group Research, 48(6), 719–765. doi:10.1177/1046496417732403

Guinalíu, M., & Jordán, P. (2016). Building trust in the leader of virtual work teams. Spanish

Journal of Marketing - ESIC, 20(1), 58–70. doi:10.1016/j.reimke.2016.01.003

Hackworth, J., Steel, S., Cooksey, E., DePalma, M., & Kahn, J. A. (2018). Faculty members'

self-awareness, leadership confidence, and leadership skills improve after an evidence-

based leadership training program. The Journal of Pediatrics, 199, 4–6.

doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.05.007

Hadian-Nasab, A., & Afshari, L. (2019). Authentic leadership and employee performance:

Mediating role of organizational commitment. Leadership & Organization Development

Journal, 40(5), 548–560. doi:10.1108/LODJ-01-2019-0026

Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F. O., & Chan, A. (2012). Leader self and means

efficacy: A multi-component approach. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision

Processes, 118(2), 143–161. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.03.007

Hanold, M. (2017). Toward a new approach to authentic leadership: The practice of embodied

dialogical “Thinking” and the promise of shared power. Advances in Developing Human

Resources, 19(4), 454–466. doi:10.1177/1523422317728940

122

Harper, D. S., & Harper, D. S. (2016). Correctional executives’ leadership self-efficacy and their

perceptions of emotional intelligence. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(4), 765–

779. doi:10.1007/s12103-015-9319-1

Heale, R., & Twycross, A. (2015). Validity and reliability in quantitative research. Evidence-

Based Nursing, 18, 66–67. doi:10.1136/eb-2015-102129

Henderson, J., & Hoy, W. (1983). Leader authenticity: The development and test of an

operational measure. Educational and Psychological Research, 3(2), 63–75.

Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and

servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A

meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501–529. doi:10.1177/0149206316665461

Hollis, N. T., Kimbrough, B., Muhammad, P., & Russell, D. S. (2018). Blueprint for

engagement: Authentic leadership. Routledge.

Hsieh, C., & Wang, D. (2015). Does supervisor-perceived authentic leadership influence

employee work engagement through employee-perceived authentic leadership and

employee trust? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(18),

2329–2348. doi:10.1080/09585192.2015.1025234

Hu, L., & Bentler, P. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariances structure analysis:

Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

Huang, S. (2014). When correlation and causation coincide. Bioessays, 36(1), 1–2.

doi:10.1002/bies.201370003

123

Huang, T. Y., Souitaris, V., & Barsade, S. G. (2019). Which matters more? Group fear versus

hope in entrepreneurial escalation of commitment. Strategic Management Journal,

40(11), 1852–1881. doi:10.1002/smj.3051

Hussain, S. T., Abbas, J., Lei, S., Haider, M., & Akram, T. (2017). Transactional leadership and

organizational creativity: Examining the mediating role of knowledge sharing behavior.

Cogent Business & Management, 4(1), 1361663. doi:10.1080/23311975.2017.1361663

Iszatt-White, M., & Kempster, S. (2019). Authentic leadership: Getting back to the roots of the

“Root Construct”? International Journal of Management Reviews, 21(3), 356–369.

https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12193

Jennings, P. L., Mitchell, M. S., & Hannah, S. T. (2015). The moral self: A review and

integration of the literature. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(S1), S104–S168.

doi:10.1002/job.1919

Jensen, U. T., Andersen, L. B., Bro, L. L., Bøllingtoft, A., Eriksen, T. L. M., Holten, A., &

Würtz, A. (2019). Conceptualizing and measuring transformational and transactional

leadership. Administration & Society, 51(1), 3–33. doi:10.1177/0095399716667157

Jewson, N., Felstead, A., & Green, F. (2015). Training in the public sector in a period of

austerity: the case of the UK. Journal of Education and Work, 28(3), 228–249.

doi:10.1080/13639080.2014.900169

Johnsen, C. G. (2018). Authenticating the leader: Why Bill George believes that a moral

compass would have kept Jeffrey Skilling out of jail. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(1),

53–63. doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2968-7

Kellerman, B. (2012). The end of leadership. HarperCollins.

124

Kellis, D. S., & Ran, B. (2013). Modern leadership principles for public administration: Time to

move forward: Modern leadership principles. Journal of Public Affairs, 13(1), 130–141.

doi:10.1002/pa.1453

Kempster, S., Iszatt-White-White, M., & Brown, M. (2019). Authenticity in leadership:

Reframing relational transparency through the lens of emotional labour. Leadership,

15(3), 319–338. doi:10.1177/1742715017746788

Kettl, D. F. (2018). Earning trust in government. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 24(3),

295–299. doi:10.1080/15236803.2018.1426923

Khan, Z., Nawaz, A., & Khan, I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature review.

Journal of Resources Development and Management, 16, 1–7.

Kim, T. K. (2015). T test as a parametric statistic. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 68(6), 540–

546. doi:10.4097/kjae.2015.68.6.540

Klein, E., & Robison, J. (2019). Like, post, and distrust? How social media use affects trust in

government. Political Communication, 1–19. doi:10.1080/10584609.2019.1661891

Kline, R. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The leadership challenge: how to make extraordinary

things happen in organizations (6th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kramer, R., & Tyler, T. (1996). The organizational trust inventory (OTI): Development and

validation. (pp. 302). Sage. doi:10.4135/9781452243610.n15

Krylova, K. O., Jolly, P. M., & Phillips, J. S. (2017). Followers' moral judgments and leaders'

integrity-based transgressions: A synthesis of literatures. The Leadership Quarterly,

28(1), 195–209. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2016.10.002

125

Kunnanatt, J. T. (2016). 3d leadership - strategy-linked leadership framework for managing

teams. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 11(3), 30.

Kwadwo, S., & Hamza, K. (2015). Qualitative and quantitative research paradigms in business

research: A philosophical reflection. European Journal of Business Management, 7(3),

217–225.

Kwan, P. (2019). Is transformational leadership theory passé? Revisiting the integrative effect of

instructional leadership and transformational leadership on student outcomes.

Educational Administration Quarterly, 13161. doi:10.1177/0013161X19861137

Ladner, A., & Soguel, N. (2015). Managing the crises – how did local governments react to the

financial crisis in 2008 and what explains the differences? The case of Swiss

municipalities. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(4), 752–772.

doi:10.1177/0020852314558033

Landesz, T. (2018). Authentic leadership and Machiavellianism in young global leadership. ISM

Journal of International Business, 2(2), 39–51.

Larsson, G., & Eid, J. (2012). An idea paper on leadership theory integration. Management

Research Review, 35(3–4), 177–191. doi:10.1108/01409171211210109

Leavy, P. (2017). Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and

community-based participatory research approaches (1st ed.). The Guilford Press.

Lee, J., Cho, J., Baek, Y., Pillai, R., & Oh, S. H. (2019). Does ethical leadership predict follower

outcomes above and beyond the full-range of leadership model and authentic leadership?:

An organizational commitment perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 36(3),

821–847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9596-6

126

Lelkes, Y., Krosnick, J. A., Marx, D. M., Judd, C. M., & Park, B. (2012). Complete anonymity

compromises the accuracy of self-reports. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,

48(6), 1291–1299. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.07.002

Leroy, H., Anseel, F., Gardner, W. L., & Sels, L. (2015). Authentic leadership, authentic

followership, basic need satisfaction, and work role performance: A cross-level study.

Journal of Management, 41(6), 1677–1697. doi:10.1177/0149206312457822

Leung, L. (2015). Validity, reliability, and generalizability in qualitative research. Journal of

Family Medicine and Primary Care, 4(3), 324–327. https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-

4863.161306

Li, M., Liu, W., Han, Y., & Zhang, P. (2016). Linking empowering leadership and change-

oriented organizational citizenship behavior: The role of thriving at work and autonomy

orientation. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 29(5), 732–750.

doi:10.1108/JOCM-02-2015-0032

Lin, L. (2018). Bias caused by sampling error in meta-analysis with small sample sizes. PloS

One, 13(9), e0204056. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204056

Ling, Q., Liu, F., & Wu, X. (2017). Servant versus authentic leadership: Assessing effectiveness

in China’s hospitality industry. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 58(1), 53–68.

doi:10.1177/1938965516641515

Liu, Y., Fuller, B., Hester, K., Bennett, R. J., & Dickerson, M. S. (2018). Linking authentic

leadership to subordinate behaviors. Leadership & Organization Development Journal,

39(2), 218–233. doi:10.1108/LODJ-12-2016-0327

127

Ma, X., & Jiang, W. (2018). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and employee

creativity in entrepreneurial firms. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 54(3),

302–324. doi:10.1177/0021886318764346

Madanchian, M., Hussein, N., Noordin, F., & Taherdoost, H. (2017). Leadership effectiveness

measurement and its effect on organization outcomes. Procedia Engineering, 181, 1043–

1048. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2017.02.505

Mamun, C., & Hasan, M. (2017). Factors affecting employee turnover and sound retention

strategies in business organization: A conceptual view. Problems and Perspectives in

Management, 15(1), 63–71. doi:10.21511/ppm.15(1).2017.06

Martins, I., Monsalve, J. P. P., & Martinez, A. V. (2018). Self-confidence and fear of failure

among university students and their relationship with entrepreneurial orientation.

Academia Revista Latinoamericana De Administración, 31(3), 471–485.

doi:10.1108/ARLA-01-2018-0018

Masa'deh, R., Tarhini, A., & Obeidat, B. Y. (2016). A Jordanian empirical study of the

associations among transformational leadership, transactional leadership, knowledge

sharing, job performance, and firm performance: A structural equation modelling

approach. Journal of Management Development, 35(5), 681–705. doi:10.1108/JMD-09-

2015-0134

Mehmood, Q., Hamstra, M. R. W., Nawab, S., & Vriend, T. (2016). Authentic leadership and

followers' in-role and extra-role performance: The mediating role of followers' learning

goal orientation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(4), 877–

883. doi:10.1111/joop.12153

128

Morgan, G., Leech, N., Gloeckner, G., & Barret, K. (2013). IBM SPSS for introductory

Statistics: Use and Interpretation (5th ed.). Routledge.

Mouton, N. (2019). A literary perspective on the limits of leadership: Tolstoy’s critique of the

great man theory. Leadership, 15(1), 81–102. doi:10.1177/1742715017738823

Mwita, K. M., Mwakasangula, E., & Tefurukwa, O. (2018). The influence of leadership on

employee retention in Tanzania commercial banks. International Journal of Human

Resource Studies, 8(2), 274. doi:10.5296/ijhrs.v8i2.12922

Na-Nan, K., & Sanamthong, E. (2019). Self-efficacy and employee job performance: Mediating

effects of perceived workplace support, motivation to transfer and transfer of training.

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. doi:10.1108/IJQRM-01-

2019-0013

Narbón‐Perpiñá, I., & De Witte, K. (2018). Local governments' efficiency: A systematic

literature review—part I. International Transactions in Operational Research, 25(2),

431–468. doi:10.1111/itor.12364

New International Version. (2011). Biblica. www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-

Version-NIV-Bible/

Nie, D., & Lämsä, A. (2015). The Leader–Member exchange theory in the Chinese context and

the ethical challenge of guanxi. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(4), 851–861.

doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1983-9

Norman, G. (2010). Likert scales, levels of measurement and the “laws” of statistics. Advances

in Health Sciences Education, 15(5), 625–632. doi: 10.1007/s10459-010-9222-y

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Sage.

129

O'Leary, J. (2015). Doing it better: Enhancing productivity and value in the public sector. Public

Sector, 38(3), 5–8.

O'Leary, M. (2018). Edelman trust barometer measures world trust levels. Information Today,

35(4), 14–15. https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539670951

Onyalla, D. (2018). Authentic leadership and leadership ethics: Proposing a new perspective.

Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 11(2). doi:10.22543/0733.62.1226

Pahi, M. H., & Hamid, K. A. (2016). The magic of destructive leadership: Laissez-faire

leadership and commitment to service quality. International Journal of Economic

Perspectives, 10(4), 602–609.

Pittman, A. (2020). Leadership rebooted: Cultivating trust with the brain in mind. Human

Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 44(2), 127–143.

doi:10.1080/23303131.2019.1696910

Podrez, E. (2017). Socrates and business ethics. Considerations on the ethical origins of

responsibility. Annales. Etyka w Życiu Gospodarczym, 20(8), 7–18. doi:10.18778/1899-

2226.20.8.01

Ponto, J. (2015). Understanding and evaluating survey research. Journal of the Advanced

Practitioner in Oncology, 6(2), 168. doi:10.6004/jadpro.2015.6.2.9

Poppo, L., Zhou, K. Z., & Li, J. J. (2016). When can you trust “trust”? Calculative trust,

relational trust, and supplier performance. Strategic Management Journal, 37(4), 724–

741. doi:10.1002/smj.2374

Qu, Y. E., Dasborough, M. T., Zhou, M., & Todorova, G. (2019). Should authentic leaders value

power? A study of leader’s values and perceived value congruence. Journal of Business

Ethics, 156(4), 1027–1044. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3617-0

130

Qureshi, M. A., & Hassan, M. (2019). Authentic leadership, ethical climate & workplace

incivility: How authentic leadership prevents deviant work behavior-a case from

Pakistan. Abasyn University Journal of Social Sciences, 12(1), 144–163.

https://doi.org/10.34091/AJSS.12.1.13

Rahayu, M., Rasid, F., & Tannady, H. (2019). The effect of career training and development on

job satisfaction and its implications for the organizational commitment of regional

secretariat (SETDA) employees of jambi provincial government. International Review of

Management and Marketing, 9(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.7439

Raihani, N. J., & Bshary, R. (2015). Why humans might help strangers. Frontiers in Behavioral

Neuroscience, 9, 39. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00039

Reffo, G., & Wark, V. (2014). Leadership PQ: How political intelligence sets successful leaders

apart. Kogan Page.

Rego, A., Sousa, F., Marques, C., & Cunha, M. P. (2012). Authentic leadership promoting

employees' psychological capital and creativity. Journal of Business Research, 65(3),

429–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.003

Ribeiro, N., Duarte, A. P., & Filipe, R. (2018). How authentic leadership promotes individual

performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management,

67(9), 1585–1607. doi:10.1108/IJPPM-11-2017-0318

Roux, C., Goldsmith, K., & Bonezzi, A. (2015). On the psychology of scarcity: When reminders

of resource scarcity promote selfish (and generous) behavior. Journal of Consumer

Research, 42(4), 615–631. doi:10.1093/jcr/ucv048

131

Saebi, T., Foss, N. J., & Linder, S. (2019). Social entrepreneurship research: Past achievements

and future promises. Journal of Management, 45(1), 70–95.

doi:10.1177/0149206318793196

Salkind, N. J. (2010). Encyclopedia of research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

doi:10.4135/9781412961288

Sandhu, M. A. A., & Dastgeer, G. (2019). The impact of authentic leadership behavior on

employee level outcomes: The role of psychological empowerment and structural

distances. Journal of Organisational Studies & Innovations, 6(2), 16-29.

Schein, E. H., & Schein, P. A. (2018). Humble leadership: The power of relationships, openness,

and trust. Berrett-Koehler.

Schilke, O., & Cook, K. S. (2015). Sources of alliance partner trustworthiness: Integrating

calculative and relational perspectives. Strategic Management Journal, 36(2), 276–297.

doi:10.1002/smj.2208

Schober, P., Boer, C., & Schwarte, L. (2018). Correlation coefficients: Appropriate use and

interpretation. Anesthesia & Analgesia, 126(5), 1763–1768.

doi:10.1213/ANE.0000000000002864.

Seeram, E. (2019). An overview of correlational research. Radiologic Technology, 91(2), 176.

Seijts, G. H., & MacMillan, K. (2018). Leadership in practice: Theory and cases in leadership

character. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315405629

Shamir, B., & Eilam, G. (2005). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic

leadership development. Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 395–417.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.005

132

Shapira-Lishchinsky, O. (2014). Toward developing authentic leadership: Team-based

simulations. Journal of School Leadership, 24(5), 979–1013.

doi:10.1177/105268461402400506

Sheer, V. C. (2015). “Exchange lost” in leader–member exchange theory and research: A

critique and a reconceptualization. Leadership, 11(2), 213–229.

doi:10.1177/1742715014530935

Sidani, Y. M., & Rowe, W. G. (2018). A reconceptualization of authentic leadership: Leader

legitimation via follower-centered assessment of the moral dimension. The Leadership

Quarterly, 29(6), 623–636. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.04.005

Söderhjelm, T. M., Larsson, G., Sandahl, C., Björklund, C., & Palm, K. (2018). The importance

of confidence in leadership role. Leadership & Organization Development Journal,

39(1), 114–129. doi:10.1108/LODJ-12-2016-0307

Spector, B. A. (2016). Carlyle, Freud, and the great man theory more fully considered.

Leadership, 12(2), 250–260. doi:10.1177/1742715015571392

Spreen, T. L., Afonso, W., & Gerrish, E. (2020). Can employee training influence local fiscal

outcomes? The American Review of Public Administration, 50(4–5), 401–414.

doi:10.1177/0275074020911717

Stajkovic, A. D., Lee, D., Greenwald, J. M., & Raffiee, J. (2015). The role of trait core

confidence higher-order construct in self-regulation of performance and attitudes:

Evidence from four studies. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,

128, 29–48. doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.02.001

Stake, R. E. (2010). Qualitative research: Studying how things work. Guilford Press.

133

Starbird, D., & Cavanagh, R. (2011). Building engaged team performance: Align your processes

and people to achieve game-changing business results. McGraw-Hill.

Stogdill, R. M. (1948). Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the literature.

Journal of Psychology, 25, 35-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1948.9917362

Strauss, K., Niven, K., McClelland, C. R., & Cheung, B. (2015). Hope and optimism in the face

of change: Contributions to task adaptivity. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(4),

733–745. doi:10.1007/s10869-014-9393-2

Sullivan G. M. (2011). A primer on the validity of assessment instruments. Journal of Graduate

Medical Education, 3(2), 119–120. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-11-00075.1

Sullivan, G. M., & Artino, A. R. (2013). Analyzing and interpreting data from Likert-type scales.

Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(4), 541–542. doi:10.4300/jgme-5-4-18

Suresh, K., & Chandrashekara, S. (2012). Sample size estimation and power analysis for clinical

research studies. Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, 5(1), 7–13.

https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-1208.97779

Sverdrup, T. E., & Stensaker, I. G. (2018). Restoring trust in the context of strategic change.

Strategic Organization, 16(4), 401–428. doi:10.1177/1476127017739843

Swanepoel, S., Botha, P., & Rose-Innes, R. (2015). Organizational behaviour: Exploring the

relationship between ethical climate, self-efficacy and hope. Journal of Applied Business

Research, 31(4), 1419. doi:10.19030/jabr.v31i4.9327

Tal, D., & Gordon, A. (2016). Leadership of the present, current theories of multiple

involvements: A bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics, 107(1), 259–269.

doi:10.1007/s11192-016-1880-y

134

Tomaževič, N., & Aristovnik, A. (2019). Factors of trust in immediate leaders: An empirical

study in police service environment. International Journal of Environmental Research

and Public Health, 16(14), 2525. doi:10.3390/ijerph16142525

Training. (2018). 2018 Training Industry Report. https://trainingmag.com/trgmag-article/2018-

training-industry-report

Tropman, J., & Blackburn, J. A. (2018). The necessary traits of exemplary leadership. Effective

Executive, 21(3), 7–13.

Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., & Peterson, S. J. (2008).

Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of

Management, 34(1), 89–126. doi:10.1177/0149206307308913

Wang, W., Qiu, L., Kim, D., & Benbasat, I. (2016). Effects of rational and social appeals of

online recommendation agents on cognition- and affect-based trust. Decision Support

Systems, 86, 48–60. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2016.03.007

Wei, F., Li, Y., Zhang, Y., & Liu, S. (2018). The interactive effect of authentic leadership and

leader competency on followers’ job performance: The mediating role of work

engagement. Journal of Business Ethnics, 153(3), 763–773.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3379-0

Williamson, O. E. (1995). Organization theory: From Chester Barnard to the present and

beyond (Expand ed.). Oxford University Press.

Winston, B. E. (2018). Biblical principles of leading and managing employees. Palgrave

Macmillan

Wise, T. P. (2016). Trust in virtual teams: Organization, strategies and assurance for successful

projects. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315549620

135

Wong, S. I., & Giessner, S. R. (2018). The thin line between empowering and laissez-faire

leadership: An expectancy-match perspective. Journal of Management, 44(2), 757–783.

doi:10.1177/0149206315574597

Wright, E. S. (2017). Dialogic development in the situational leadership style. Performance

Improvement, 56(9), 27–31. doi:10.1002/pfi.21733

Xenikou, A. (2017). Transformational leadership, transactional contingent reward, and

organizational identification: The mediating effect of perceived innovation and goal

culture orientations. Frontiers in Psychology, 8.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01754

Yadav, N., & Dixit, S. (2017). A conceptual model of learning agility and authentic leadership

development: Moderating effects of learning goal orientation and organizational culture.

Journal of Human Values, 23(1), 40–51. doi:10.1177/0971685816673487

Yahaya, R., & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and organizational commitment: Literature

review. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 190–216. doi:10.1108/JMD-01-

2015-0004

Yang, I. (2015). Positive effects of laissez-faire leadership: Conceptual exploration. Journal of

Management Development, 34(10), 1246–1261. doi:10.1108/JMD-02-2015-0016

Yasir, M., Imran, R., Irshad, M. K., Mohamad, N. A., & Khan, M. M. (2016). Leadership styles

in relation to employees’ trust and organizational change capacity: Evidence from non-

profit organizations. SAGE Open, 6(4), 215824401667539.

doi:10.1177/2158244016675396

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Designs and methods. Guilford Press.

136

Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 6–

16. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.6

Zak, P. J. (2018). The neuroscience of high-trust organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal:

Practice and Research, 70(1), 45–58. doi:10.1037/cpb0000076

Zhao, H., Liu, W., Li, J., & Yu, X. (2019). Leader–member exchange, organizational

identification, and knowledge hiding: The moderating role of relative leader–member

exchange. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(7), 834–848. doi:10.1002/job.2359

Zhu, X., & Lee, K. S. (2017). Global virtual team performance, shared leadership, and trust:

Proposing a conceptual framework. The Business & Management Review, 8(4), 31.